Snowflake
by Toxic-Hibari
Summary: For some mysterious reason intruders have appeared in the soul society and the world of the living for two souls. One: Toshiro Hitsugaya, Two: KArin Kurosaki. They want these two souls and no one knows why.  *HITSUKARIN* Please R&R
1. Chapter 1

Snowflake

Chapter One

"MATSUMOTO!"

Rangiku quickly turned on her heel and bolted out the door. It was a hot summer day and her Taicho was in a mood due to the heat and had been pissed of further due to her not doing her share of paperwork. She passed Shuhei and Izuru, who gave her a knowing nod the instant the saw Hitsugaya on her trail. She only had one option left. She stopped and quickly turned where Toshiro didn't have time to slow down and went head first into the valley of boobs. That was definitely one way to shut up the snowy haired Taicho.

"Oh Captain, I'm so sorry I didn't do my paperwork," said Rangiku cheerily, "I simply didn't have the time!"

Toshiro jabbed Rangiku in the ribs and backed away, unpeeling his white fringe from his forehead and glaring at his Fukutaicho. He heated being warm and she had made him flush a rather pretty red.

"MATSUMOTO, GET BACK TO WORK!" shouted the small Taicho, watching his lieutenant back away and then scuttle back into the office like an obedient little puppy. Toshiro sighed and rubbed at his hair and noticed it was damp from sweat. Knowing that there was a captains meeting in exactly one hour so he better go hit the showers.

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><p>"What was the point in that? I could have got through about ten percent of my paperwork from the amount of time it took me to attend that captains meeting…" grumbled Hitsugaya. Staring at the night sky. He was quite happy that it was cooler now, but he wasn't happy that he was forced to stand in that bloody heat for three hours straight. Head captain Yamamoto was muttering on about multiple spiritual pressure appearing all over Japan, but why would he care about that? They seemed harmless to Toshiro.<p>

He looked behind himself to see that all the captains had already left and most likely gone back to bed. He sighed and then started heading towards his own division, he had to check on the dorms to make sure his seated officers weren't causing a racket. As he approached closer, he could hear squad eleven started the drunken yells and cries. Toshiro focused but then remembered Kenpachi was in the world of the living along with Kuchiki Byakuya and Soi Fon, so no one was there to keep everything in the eleventh division calm. He walked through and entered the barracks only to be roughly shoved out the way as more people ran off, screaming at the top of their lungs. He looked across the barracks to see blood splattered across the walls and saw Yachiru standing at the centre of the room, her small sword drawn. Toshiro was about to go assist her when he automatically pulled out his blade to block that of another enemy. Yachiru glanced at him before being pushed back and into a wall. Toshiro slashed his blade across and ducked another one and Shunpo'd to the side and grabbed Yachiru by the waist just as a blade was sent through the wall where she was just standing.

"Lieutenant Kusajishi, what's going on?" demanded Toshiro, still holding her as he ducked under two blades and Shunpo'd, one foot planting on the enemies shoulder and pushing him back, a small crack happening as his skull connected to the wall. Toshiro glanced round the room and saw no other squad members were there and sighed with relief.

"I don't know what happened," said Yachiru, "everyone was celebrating after a hard days worth of training and then they just attacked!"Toshiro thought about it for a fraction of a second before he realized what it may be. They had just had a captains meeting about mysterious visitors appearing in the world of the living and were forewarned to keep their guard up. Was this why?

"HEY SNOWBALL, WATCH OUT!"

Toshiro snapped his head round and then narrowly dodged a blade aimed at his head, a gash appearing on his cheek. Blood began to run down his face."Kusajishi, get away from here," ordered Hitsugaya, "tell the captains that there had been an infiltration and they are currently located at the Squad Eleven barracks.

"Yachiru nodded and got to her own feet and leapt out of a window, the glass shattering and littering the floor after her. Toshiro turned his attention back to the intruders and then counted them. Sixteen in total. He looked out the window and then saw Yachiru's retreating from.

"AND TELL THEM THAT THERE ARE SIXTEEN OF THEM!" he shouted after her. She released a small bit of spiritual pressure to show she got the message and then Shunpo'd on. Toshiro turned back to the enemies and then raised an eyebrow as the all stared at him, smirks on their faces.

"I see we intruded the wrong barracks. Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya is captain of Squad Ten, not Eleven…" muttered one of them.

"Who gave the information? It was incorrect!" hissed another. Toshiro glared at them all, dropping the room temperature by several degrees. The intruders stared at him and smirked further.

"Oh yes, I do believe this is him," said the one in the centre, "apparently one of his distinct characteristics is his icy presence. Too bad for him, he won't be able to defeat us all."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes; he was being addressed as weak and he would not tolerate that. He raised his sword in the air.

"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

The one in the centre stepped forwards and drew her own Zanpaku-to.

"Burn him down, Huo!"

Hyorinmaru spurted out of Hitsugaya's katana just as a burst of flames flowed out the enemies. Hyorinmaru, being an ice type Zanpaku-to, melted instantly. Toshiro narrowed his eyes.

_"If they truly were after me from the start, of course they would send someone who had a fire type Zanpaku-to…" _thought Toshiro, resummoning Hyorinmaru only for it to get melted again, _"using Bankai would be useless if it would get melted…"_

Toshiro swivelled his head round and blocked the blade of one who had tried to attack him from the side and then stared at the one in the centre, waiting for his or her next attack..

"Bakudo 9, Geki."

Toshiro immediately tried to cover his eyes but it was already too late, he had already seen the red flash and now couldn't move. He felt his sword get wrenched from his hand and two hands pressing themselves on his shoulders, pushing him to the floor. Once he was on his knees, he felt something snap round his neck and everything he was spiritually aware of just vanished.

"Poor Hitsugaya, he's completely helpless now." said the one with the fire-type Zanpaku-to.

"We need to leave now, I can sense three captain level Shinigami along with their Fukutaicho coming this way." said one at the back, everyone nodding along with her. The centre one narrowed his eyes before lifting Hitsugaya up by his collar, forcing him to stand straight. Toshiro's head remained hanging downwards, the effect of the Bakudo taking its toll on him. He couldn't sense anything, not even his own reiatsu, so does that mean anyone could sense him? It seemed to much like a spiritual suppressor. A hand grabbed the back of his hair and forced him to look up at the Garganta that just appeared.

"Say goodbye to the soul society Hitsugaya, you will never see it again."

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><p>AN: OK OK, I know I have a lot of unfinished stories to complete but then I forgot to lift my memory sticks when I went to my grans housr and I really needed to write something... and here it is. Sorry if it's, like... really sucky... Please R&R so I know whether or not to Continue


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

She struggled at the chains around her wrists uselessly and took another glance at the room she was being held in. the last thing she could remember was being in the world of the living with Ichigo, thanking him for playing a came of soccer with her before the whole place blacked out and she could hear Ichigo shouting before everything went black. She was beginning to wonder what had happened to her brother and the captains who were in that her eyes, she searched the building for Reiatsu, and quickly she came across Ichigo's, his always being easy to trace since it was so vast and it leaked a lot. Stretching her senses further, she could sense two more familiar reiatsu's.

"Hmmm… that idiot Zaraki isn't here… but Kuchiki and Soi Fon are… did they get caught too…?" she thought dully, her eyes glanced towards the door, "maybe I can still find a way out… if I can some how escape-"

Her eyes widened as she felt yet another familiar Reiatsu come through, but this one made her shake and tremble. Ichigo was her brother and the other two Shinigami Captain's she had only briefly met, but this was…Her pulled at the chains once more causing her wrists to blister and bleed, but she didn't care. She needed to get out now. In a furious attempt to break free Karin released all of her spiritual energy in one go, causing the door to unlock and open quickly, a male Arrancar walked through and shot her a glare.

"Don't worry about it Princess, the Prince will be here soon." sneered the Arrancar, taking a step back to avoid a boot to the shins.

"Leave him alone!" shouted Karin, booting her leg as far as it would go but the chains made it impossible to go more than halfway across the room.

"Ah, I think he's being brought here right now," continued the Arrancar, "I'm surprised they would even put him in the same cell as you."

Karin let off a low growl and the Arrancar stayed far back, knowing that if he were any closer he would receive a painful death. He walked out the room and on the way passed the female with the fire type Zanpaku-to, Hitsugaya slung over her shoulder in a lazy fashion

"Aizen-sama requested that they be kept in the same cell," she drawled lazily, "probably doesn't want to let the 'Princess' get lonely."

"Tsk. I think if we left he alone too long she'd go crazy anyway." replied the male Arrancar dryly, walking away.

"Aren't you meant to be guarding this cell, Jugo?" she snapped, appearing in the room Karin was in and dumping Toshiro on the floor before appearing back outside and locking the door.

"Be right back Amelia!"

Karin sat on the ground now and flipped Toshiro onto his back, panic filling her eyes as she looked at the bruising around his throat and the strange way his Spiritual pressure was fluctuating.

"They sealed his spiritual pressure? But if they did why did they take it off?" wondered Karin, her fingers tracing the bruise through his neck and sighed, "probably tried to prevent people tracing him through his reiatsu until he got here…"

Toshiro remained unconscious, his Reiatsu raising and lowering every so often; Karin just assumed he was in a bad dream. She continued to think about things. Why did that guard keep calling her 'Princess' and Hitsugaya 'Prince'? sure, she had no problem with it since she loved the little Snowflake but the whole concept of it just bothered her.

"What the hell do they want?" Karin thought, not knowing that she had actually said it out loud.

"That really depends…" said Hitsugaya, his eyes still closed, "perhaps due to me and you having powerful reiatsu."Karin stared at him and frowned. "Toshiro, why do you keep your eyes closed and not look at me?" she asked."Bakudo hasn't worn off yet." he replied, his hand reaching up slowly to cover his face and then rub over his eyes, "It's fading now."

"That's good." she said, "Care to explain where we are?"

"My guess… Huecho Mundo, from what that Arrancar/soul reaper told me." replied Toshiro sitting up and then looking round, "The idiots. They take a spiritual suppressor from me and they forget to chain me?"

Toshiro already knew his Zanpaku-to had been taken but since he could use his Spirit energy breaking out from here would be easy as pie. He grabbed the link cuff on Karin's wrist and inserted some spirit energy into it until it crack and fell of. He frowned as he saw the blisters and blood but the quickly switched to the other cuff.

"What do you think your doing?"Toshiro froze momentarily before looking up at Amelia through hating eyes.

"Taking these chains off her, what do you think?" he hissed, breaking the other cuff before standing in front of Karin protectively.

"Now now Prince, don't go protective mode on me, its not as if Aizen-sama wouldn't allow me to kill the princess anyway." she snapped, "anyway, Aizen-sama has requested to see the both of you."

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><p>After around twenty minutes of struggling, Toshiro receiving yet another spiritual suppressor and various forms of binding spells on him, the had headed towards Aizen's throne room, Karin being dragged by chains while the Arrancar's thought it funny to wrap something round Hitsugaya's collar and pull him like a dog. Amelia took the lead, Karin being forced at her side. When they finally reached their destination, Aizen was in the middle of talking to a very pissed of Ichimaru, who was revived and this time forced to join Aizen. Aizen looked over at the two captives at the end of the room and smiled.<p>

"Why, bring them in now." said Aizen, that fake smile painted on his lips, "I hope you've been treating the well?"

Toshiro let out a full out snarl until someone covered his mouth, Karin remained quiet. Aizen eyes were locked on Hitsugaya for a few minutes before switching to Karin, his smile widening.

"You're unusually quiet. Every Kurosaki I have met are louder than this." said Aizen.

"We're not all the same. We are different." spat Karin, her eyes glaring daggers at Aizen.

"That doesn't really matter, it is not the reason you are here." said Aizen. "You are here to undergo hollowfication."

This made Karin freeze before she began yelling.

"NO WAY ARRE YOU DOING THAT TO ME ND SHIRO, NO WAY!"Aizen appeared in front of her and laid one finger on her lips, silencing her.

"I have chose you and Hitsugaya for two reasons. For you, your brother is a Vizard. He is twice as powerful when using his mask. I want to see what will happen when you have hollow abilities too, but just a regular human with high spirit energy having hollow abilities would be interesting." said Aizen, his eyes now looking at Toshiro, "as for Hitsugaya, I thought it would be interesting to have an Arrancar with the strongest ice-type Zanpaku-to."

Toshiro gave a menacing glare but Aizen only smirked, knowing that Hitsugaya couldn't do a thing against him with so many binds on him. Karin moved her head away and stared at Aizen with disgust. She knew of this man, this was the person Ichigo lost his powers to and then he had to try so hard to get them back Aizen closed his eyes and then cupped Karin's chin gently.

"Are you worried about him?" he asked gently, forcing her to look at him,"Do you want to know if he is alive?"

"I don't know what your talking about." said Karin dryly, her thoughts on something on something else

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

Karin glared at him and then bit his hand. Aizen didn't react at all, all he done was move his hand and looked at the trickles of blood running down it.

"Take Karin back to her cell but keep Hitsugaya here."

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" screamed Karin, getting taken away by Amelia and then caught a glimpse of the snowflake's face before forced to leave the narrowed his eyes but said nothing, due to a hand still being over his mouth.

"Well Toshiro, due to the 'Princess' misbehaving, I do believe the only way she will listen to me is if I torture you." said Aizen smugly, ordering his Arrancar and soul reapers to bring Toshiro forward. Toshiro's eyes flickered slightly before going back to there cold state. A hand was removed from his mouth and then he could finally speak.

"Do whatever you want, she'll never listen to you." Toshiro Snarled, his eyes now looking at the ground.

"We'll see Hitsugaya," said Aizen, "let's have some fun."

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><p>AN: Sorry for not updating, I've been having problems witht he computer and we had to get it formatted due to viruses *sigh* and it deleted my previous chapter so this once will probably seem sucky. Thanks for all the lovely reviews and i hope to see your names again ^^


	3. Chapter 3

Snowflake

Chapter Three

"LET GO OF ME DAMN IT!" shouted Karin, thrashing around wildly as screams of pain could be heard echoing down the corridors. Amelia had no problem restraining her; holding the struggling raven with one arm, her lips curled up into a horrible smirk as a huge 'CRACK' rung through the air.

"It appears Aizen-sama is having fun." said Amelia, "I wonder what Gin is doing…? Probably trying to stop him."

Karin continued to struggle and Amelia continued walking before tossing her in her cell, not even bothering with the chains since she wouldn't be strong enough to break the door down anyway. Scurrying to her feet, she started banging furiously on the door.

"HEY!" she shouted, "LET ME OUT!".

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><p>Skidding across the ground, the Snowflake's head quickly came into contact with the wall and made another 'CRACK' sound. He was unsure if it was his skull or the wall that was now broken but what he did now was that he was in a lot of pain. Around thirty feet away from him lay Ichimaru, who had foolishly tried to stop Aizen and gotten him self in a worse state than Toshiro himself. Aizen, ignoring Gin, approached Toshiro and picked him up by his snowy white hair before extending his other hand to grab his throat. Toshiro stared at him blurrily, the whole room began to spin. Around four of his ribs were broken and he was positive his shoulder had been dislocated.<p>

"I think this shall be a suitable punishment for you," said Aizen smugly, "don't you agree? Hitsugaya?"

_"I never done anything!"_ screamed Toshiro's head in protest, but other than that the rest of him stayed quiet, unmoving. When Aizen dropped him he then approached Gin, giving him a vicious boot.

"Next time you disobey me I may just kill you." hissed Aizen.

"I'd rather be dead than work for you." Gin spat back, earning another boot to the stomach.

"Just be thankful that I even bothered bringing you back to life." Aizen hissed back, giving him one final boot before staring at an Espada standing in the room, smirking.

"Grimmjow, take Hitsugaya back to his cell and do not remove his collar," said Aizen, "the little princess will want to know if he's ok."

Grimmjow gave a sinister smirk as he sonido'd to Toshiro's side, deliberately picking him up by his dislocated shoulder just to cause pain. The smirk widened as he heard the smallest of gasp and then slung the Snowflake over his shoulder.

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><p>Karin sat on the ground, cradling her bleeding hands. She had been punching and booting the door for all she was worth. She didn't even leave a dent, a scratch, it didn't even looked marked apart from the blood on it.<p>

"Damn it… how am I to save Ichi-nii and Shiro like this…?" muttered Karin, sighing, "I wonder about those other too captains… one is Rukia's brother…" her head snapped up as she heard the door open and a tall male Arrancar walk into the cell, Toshiro on his shoulder.

"Here ya go Princess." he said slyly, dumping him on the floor right in front of her. Karin shot a quick glare before rapping her arms round the Snowflake, holding him carefully to try and avoid hurting him further. Toshiro didn't have a clue what he was going on, his body had shutdown everything on the outside to block out the pain so he couldn't even tell that he had been put down and was now with watched the door close and then lock behind Grimmjow as he left. She then bowed her head so he nose was touching Toshiro's forehead.

"I'm sorry Shiro… it's all my fault…" she whispered, blinking and then grew surprised as she felt tear leave her eyes. She never, ever cried…

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><p>"You may as well calm down Captain Soi Fon, pacing the room will not help the situation." said Byakuya, examining the collar on his neck and the bracelets on his wrists. These ere definitely spiritual suppressors. Probably put three of them on him and Soi Fon to make sure they couldn't break free, they were captains after all.<p>

"You want me to calm down?" shouted Soi Fon, tapping her foot furiously, "The Soul Society is now at risk! Three Captains and the Substitute soul reaper are being held captive here! And not to mention that human that was taken with the Substitute!"

Byakuya sighed and then looked through the bars of his cell to the cell opposite. Ichigo's cell was more like a Kido barrier than anything else and it was impossible to tell how many suppressors were on him. The bad thing was that he hadn't woken up since they got here; which was estimated as two days ago. Hitsugaya and the other Kurosaki; from what Byakuya could tell, were together at the other side of the building. The question was: why had Aizen decided to split them all up? Wouldn't it have been wiser to place everyone is separate cells?

Byakuya turned his head back round as Soi Fon booted a wall in frustration; she never was one to remain calm.

"Calm down," repeated Byakuya, "and think of a strategy."

Soi Fon huffed and then reluctantly sat down, her fingers tapping on her knee. Byakuya looked back at Ichigo and then back to Soi Fon."What can we do?" she asked impatiently, still tapping her knee.

"First of all, we need to get these off." said Byakuya, indicating to the suppressors on his neck and wrist, "Two, we need to get Kurosaki to wake up and remove his too. Three, we need to go find Captain Hitsugaya and Karin Kurosaki."

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><p>Karin hummed softly as she had finally managed to clean Toshiro's head wound. She absolutely couldn't stand blood and as the Snowflake was bleeding from so many places, it was making her feel nauseous. She continued to hum as a way to keep calm, She wrapped another piece off her blanket and then wrapped it round and round. She then made some form of sling and then put Toshiro's unusable arm in it. She was surprised; did Aizen want to kill him? It didn't make any sense. She thought Toshiro was somewhat valuable to him but then why…?<p>

She sighed and then gave up on the thought; she wasn't smart when it came to those kind of things. After wiping most of the blood away she proceeded to clean her own wounds she had gained earlier when she heard Hitsugaya say something.

"Ka…" he stopped and then shifted slightly, his eyes screwed up as he felt a dull ache in his sides. Karin couldn't do much for his ribs.

"I'm here Shiro," she said, then added, "and I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself."

Toshiro made a strange noise and then attempted to sit up, but then got pushed back down by the raven. "Don't bother trying to sit up, don't you know how badly injured you are?"

Toshiro sighed and stayed down. His brain was still muddled from the things that had been said previously.

"_That doesn't really matter, it is not the reason you are here." _a voice echoed in his head _. "You are here to undergo hollowfication."_

"Toshiro!"Toshiro opened his eyes to see Karin looking at him worriedly. He then noticed that he was sweating and shaking.

"I-I'm fine…" he muttered, feeling cool hands press against his head.

"I think not. You look a state Shiro." said Karin, her brow furrowing as she dipped a rag in a basin of water and put it on his forehead. Karin stared at him before thinking:

_"Aizen has messed with his head… illusions…?"_she wondered and then felt a hand on her head. Toshiro moved a bit of hair from his face and sighed."I'm sorry for worrying you."Karin gave him a confused look."You shouldn't really be apologizing, you did nothing wrong." replied Karin Picking a bit of crusted blood from his hair. "Rest now, we don't know when they'll come back."

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><p>AN: I LOVE YOU ALL! *glomps everyone who reviewed, subscribed and faced*  
>I will respond to you all... right here XDDD<p>

Sayo-cha64: Aizen is Aizen, he's just a horrible person in general. If you haven't yet noticed I have a thing for torturing Shiro-chan~

Artemis56567: I'd love to have that cookie now :3

Rigis Inna Sunja: *takes sprinkled cookie* Than chuu! *eats*

Bara-san: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed my wonderfully mad chapter XDDD


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Three hours had passed and it seemed Toshiro had near enough cleared his head of unwanted thoughts. The bad thing was that he no longer wanted to sleep cause when he did they came straight back. Karin noticed this after he was thrashing about in his sleep and had accidentally smacked her in the face as she was trying to get some rest. He watched her sleep for sometime before turning once more to the door where Halibel then walked on, half her face hidden as she approached him.

"Aizen-sama has given me orders to take you to him, " she said dully, not really liking the fact she was working for a backstabber like Aizen, "you can either go willingly or I'll take you by force."

Not wanting to bother Karin, Toshiro placed his good arm on the ground and pushed himself up, shaking slightly as he felt stabbing pains in his ribs. Halibel sighed and then appeared by Hitsugaya, knowing what he was trying to do. Toshiro gave Karin once last glance before following the Espada out of the room.

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><p>Ulquiorra was at the over side of the building and was standing in front of Ichigo's cell as he finally woke up. Soi Fon glared daggers at him as Byakuya quirked an eyebrow as the barrier surrounding Ichigo disappeared and Ulquiorra picked him off the ground with ease. Now that the Kuchiki could have a better view of him, he finally knew why Kurosaki didn't wake up until now. He must have put up a serious fight to prevent him and Karin from coming here to sustain those wounds…<p>

"Unhand him immediately!" ordered Soi Fon through gritted teeth, her hand tracing round the collar on her neck. Ulquiorra stared at her, then he slung Ichigo over his shoulder and completely ignored her.

"You are simply hostages," said Ulquiorra, "be quiet trash."

Soi Fon started shouting in protest but Byakuya shushed her and went back to his thinking. They had been missing from the soul society and the world of the living for three days now, it wouldn't be long before they noticed something was wrong. Now that he thought about it, wasn't Rukia in the living world too? Surely she would have noticed? Byakuya's brow furrowed at the thought of maybe his sister had been captured too. He heard a door clang and then he was left with Soi Fon, who was now pacing the room once more.

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><p>Toshiro could hear screams echoing down the corridors along with someone shouting in desperation, he just couldn't recognize who they were. Halibel stopped and then chapped the door just as the screaming erupted again.<p>

"I SAID STOP IT! YOU'RE HURTING HER DAMN IT!" shouted someone from inside, clearly male. Toshiro set his mind to focus and then recognized the reiatsu to be Ichigo's, but he couldn't sense the other persons reiatsu at doors open and the first thing the Snowflake saw was Kurosaki on his hands and knees, Ulquiorra keeping him down. He quickly glanced to the side to see Rukia Kuchiki chained to a wall, crying and sweating, bleeding and screaming as jolts of electricity was sent through her. Toshiro shuddered as he heard another high pitched scream rip through the air. Ichigo stared at her, horror and mortification written over his face. Soon enough he found Aizen in front of him, cupping his chin and then forcefully dragging him over to Rukia.

"You think that's pain?" whispered Aizen, making Toshiro look at her, "That's nothing compared to what you're going to be going through."

Toshiro's eyes widened and ten the thought of Hollowfication came into his head once more.

"I even have a demonstration for you." said Aizen evilly, turning Toshiro to look at Ichigo on the ground, "He's already a Vizard, but with some help with Szayel I managed to make him go through the same transformation and become twice as powerful if the Hogyoku is used."

"The Hogyoku no longer exists!" spat Toshiro, his hair being grabbed and the then being directed away from Ichigo to a stand across the room, a glowing object at the centre of it. Narrowing his eyes, it was pretty easy to tell what the object was, he just chose not to believe it.A few minutes passed and then screaming and shouting could be heard outside the door and as it opened, stood an infuriated Karin, Grimmjow next to her.

"Karin?" said Toshiro, then feeling his hair being let go as Aizen then approached Ichigo, Ulquiorra switching places with him and making sure the Snowflake didn't move. Karin growled and then booted Grimmjow in the shins, resulting in her ending up on the glared at Grimmjow and then glared at Aizen. He had already picked the older Kurosaki up and was now chaining him to a wall. Toshiro widened his eyes slightly and began to struggle vainly, only for the Espada, to tilt his head to the side and shove his thumb in the pressure point between the neck and shoulder. Karin started screaming once again; her brother and the person she loved were stuck in this predicament and all she could do was watch…

Then the blood curdling screams began.

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><p>All the way in the prison cells they were being held in, Byakuya and Soi Fon could hear the screaming, although were unable to recognize on who it was. Their voice had raised much higher than normal, you would almost think it was a girl unless you heard it sounding male at the start. Soi Fon hot to her feet and went to the side of her cell, pressing her ear against the wall in an attempt to hear remained seated and listened from afar, but it was easy to tell on who it was.<p>

"It is Kurosaki Ichigo."

Soi Fon turned and looked at him, annoyance showing through her expression. Now that just pissed her off. She hated being outsmarted anyway."Whatever." she growled in frustration, sitting back down. Byakuya was the suppression cuffs on his wrists and then frowned. Something seems so familiar… he just couldn't put his finger on it…

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><p>Toshiro watched horrified from the ground at the amount of pain he could hear through Ichigo's voice. Karin had already burst into tears and was crying out in desperation.<p>

"PLEASE, STOP IT! STOP IT!" She cried, watching a mask form over her brothers face and then the screaming died down, leaving ragged breaths and gasping in its path. That was the most horrible experience she had ever had, watching her brother scream in agony and despair as he formed a second hollow mask that was just like the one before. Toshiro remained limp on the ground, unable to actually do anything for Karin in his current state. It would take another few minutes before he could move his limbs again.

Aizen flicked a bit of spiritual pressure at Ichigo's chains and allowed him to fall to the ground with a dull 'thud'.Karin glared at the man just as he brushed a bit of brown hair behind his ear. How much more evil could one man get? Grimmjow then grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her towards her brother before letting go, he gave her a vicious shove she accidentally toppled over him.

"Ichi-nii…!" she gingerly flipped him onto his back and hugged him, not even paying attention to the mask on his blinked a few times and the managed to sit up again but then felt Ulquiorra's presence right behind him. Aizen had crossed the room and was now talking to an enthusiastic Szayel. At the doors stood Amelia and Jugo.

Moments later Szayel was in front of him, clearly delighted that he was allowed to examine him at last. Karin continued to hug Ichigo as she glared daggers at the psychotic scientist as he stood in front of him with a clipboard, writing notes down as Ulquiorra prevented the Snowflake from attacking him.

"Aizen-sama, we may begin Hollowfication immediately." said Szayel. Toshiro's heart skipped a beat.

Immediately?

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry, I was in a rush to write this so I don't think this chapter is too great. Sorry, but I don't have time to respond to your reviews this time TwT hope to see your names again

2nd A/N: I just went through editing this chapter. Due to my account having strange problems with the site, certain sentences have been mixed up or just deleted and words have vanished as well. Sorry for the inconvenience


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Immediately?

Karin stared at Szayel, fury written in her eyes while Toshiro just remained rigid. Aizen let a small, irritating smile cross his face as the news flooded his ears and then took a step towards his subordinate, patting him on the shoulder.

"Then I suggest you start."Karin widened her eyes in disgust before running at Aizen, shouting as she launched a punch as his head. Aizen turned round slowly and caught her small fist in his palm before crushing it down on her sore knuckles. As she howled in pain, Toshiro snapped back to his senses as he felt himself getting picked off the ground by Szayel, who was bubbling away. Karin continued to cry out in pain and Toshiro decided not to just stand by and watch.

He quickly tilted his head down and chomped into the freaky scientists shoulder, causing him to hiss and drop him. Toshiro ran forwards and first of all punch Aizen's arm away and then hit him squarely in the chesy, but in the world of Huecho Mundo and in the presence of the strongest person there, those kind of things do not happen. Without even knowing it, Toshiro had somehow ended up in the air, his throat being grasped tightly as he struggled to breathe while Karin was on the ground, crying as she now clutched at her throbbing hand. Szayel looked at his master, an amused expression on his face, Halibel stood with a hating expression while Ulquiorra stood emotionless. Ichigo was a crumpled mess on the ground while Rukia remained chained to a wall. Aizen then turned to Szayel and the placed the now motionless Snowflake in his arms.

"I'll bring the princess through in a few minutes to see his transformation." said Aizen.

"Am I turning him into an Arrancar or a Vizard?" questioned Szayel, watching Aizen grin evilly.

"I think for the prince he shall be an Arrancar." replied Aizen, a malicious laugh coming from his mouth, "besides, turning a human into an Arrancar would most likely be the death of them!"

Karin looked at the ground, watching her tears dripping from her cheeks onto the ground. She'd rather be dead than go through all of this…

* * *

><p>"You've figured it out?" asked Soi Fon incredibly, staring at the Kuchiki with disbelief. Byakuya nodded and then grabbed one of her wrists and stared at the cuffed link.<p>

"If these suppress spirit energy, they have one flaw." said Byakuya, "It's weakness should be Kido."

Pressing his thumb and forefinger at either side of the cuff, he pressured some Kido energy into the side and wasn't to surprised to see the cuff fall of and disintegrate. Soi Fon blinked as the Noble grabbed her other wrist and done the same. She was shocked to see that he could use Kido with the cuffs on, but then it was Byakuya. After she felt the one on her neck far off and disintegrate, she felt the warm of her Reiatsu surround her before she hid it so the Arrancar's couldn't sense it. She then approached Byakuya to help him remove his own and Byakuya hid his as well, but as they looked at the bars they then realized they had no choice but to show their Reiatsu in order to escape. Byakuya stepped forwards and raised his hand

"Hado 4, Byakurai."

They stepped out and walked out the room, quickly knocking out the Numero guarding it and then looked round, stopping as they heard screaming again, but this time they could recognize it instantly.

"NO, STOP IT! DON'T HURT HIM!"

* * *

><p>Szayel stared at the raven, who was now bound to a chair, screaming for all she was worth. Next to him was his lab table with the Snowflake strapped to it. At his other side sat various equipment and of course, the Hogyoku. Szayel was quite evil when it came to experimenting on Soul reapers, but he knew Aizen wanted the boy to live, so to avoid Toshiro's dying from pain alone, he was willing to drug him, even if it would only help a little. Toshiro continued to struggle with the straps, but to no avail. Karin's screams were not helping as this was just causing him to panic further. He watched the pink haired scientist fill up a syringe and the felt his neck get tilted to the side.<p>

"NO, STOP IT!" screamed Karin, kicking her legs out and wriggled her wrists uselessly in their binds. Szayel ignored her and allowed the needle to pierce the Snowy haired Taicho's neck and watched as the drug slowly went into his bloodstream. Toshiro's movements slowed to a stop as he felt his mouth get pried open and a tube being forced down his throat before a mask appeared on top of that.

He choked slightly before his body went numb. His senses went out of whack until it seemed Karin's screams went quieter, slower and more slurred. This moment of strangeness only lasted a few more moments as something was rammed into his chest. Somehow he managed to scream through the tube in his throat and started retching pretty badly as blood surged up through it as he felt something gaping in his chest, as if his heart was being clawed out.

"SHIRO NO!"

Szayel turned his head towards the room as it raised in temperature, the girls form glowing as she howled in desperation. Her binds were set alight and then burned, allowing her to break free. Flames had flickered from her and had set the wall next to her on fire. Her eyes glowed a furious red as she clutched at her head, still screaming.

"SHIRO! SHIRO!"

Szayel took a step back as her hair began to turn red as well. From what Szayel knew of, this girl should have little or no abilities whatsoever, but there he was, witnessing it. The ground below his feet began to heat up before flames erupted and lashed out at him. He narrowly dodged and his glasses hit the ground, instantly melting as a flame touched them. He quickly looked over at Hitsugaya but it seemed the Hogyoku was keeping the flames at wrong he may be desperate and this newly found ability untamed, but somehow she was managing to direct it away from her Snowflake with ease.

Karin opened her eyes and let her arms drop at her sides and as she looked around, she saw that her eyesight had greatly improved, improved so drastically if she focused hard enough, dust particles could be seen. Szayel soon found himself becoming intrigued with this girl, but right now he had to make sure Hitsugaya went through the whole of his transformation. If his transformation stopped right now, he would die. Karin seemingly noticed this and continued to cry, although her tears quickly turned into falling flames. She didn't want him to go through the transformation, but she didn't want him to die either, she would just have to live with it and fix it somehow.

A split second later everything froze as the flames just vanished, Karin back to her normal state as she , despite having a calm expression on his face, let out a sigh of relief and first checked on the Snowflake. Blood was still coming up from the tube but his tortured expression was gone. It was now complete. Staring down at his chest, Szayel smirked to see the hollow hole sitting the, the Hogyoku in the centre of it. If the psycho scientist had to be honest with himself, it was one of the most beautiful Arrancar he had ever seen.

A mask that spread over the bridge of his nose and over his right eye, it had a teal cross crossing over it and a red scrape at the centre of the eye. His hair had turned slighter spikier due to it have grown. His height had improved by half a foot, making him 4'9. His flesh had turned so much paler than what it used to be and as he forced back an eyelid, he saw a now jade eye. That would explain why his mask had teal markings on it; it was taking the colour of his previous eyes. The red slash was probably the eye colour of Hyorinmaru. The one thing he now had to see…Was how he would react when he woke up?

What would the abilities of Hyorinmaru be now?

And finally… Would he still be himself?

* * *

><p>AN: O.O ummmm... Don't kill me? This was part of the original plot but I never thought it would be so hard to write... Since it took me so long to update, I'm putting a spoiler at the end of this update.

SPOILER:

Underneath Aizen's palace was where Ichigo, Rukia and Gin were being held. Ichigo rocked back in forth, his head in his hands as he whimpered quietly.

"Rukia… Ru..kia…" he shook and trembled as the girl in front of him wouldn't move.

"Relax." came a voice from behind him. Ichigo turned round to see the fox-faced man staring at him while clutching at a rib. "She's still alive, just give her some time to recover…"

"Y-you're…" whispered Ichigo, unknown to the fact that Gin had been there the whole time. "Ich-Ichimaru?"

"Guess ya haven't gone completely insane yet." replied Gin, wincing slightly. "Listen to me, you have to remain calm and think. There is a way out of this y'know."

"A way… o-out?" uttered Ichigo in disbelief.

"Ya heard right." replied Ichimaru, "Remain sane and wait for the girl to wake up."

- (skip a bit)

Ichigo turned his head towards Rukia, his eyes glistening as she turned his head towards him.

"Rukia, you're-"

"Who are you?" she asked, clutching at her head. "Actually, who am I?"

* * *

><p>AN: And thats for you to figure out in the next chapter XDDD


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

Karin woke up with a groan. Her skin was singed and blistered and she couldn't remember how it happened. Probably one of the Arrancar putting her through bloody hell so bad that she simply couldn't remember it. She looked round the room and recognized it as another cell, the one person she couldn't see was her Snowflake. What happened to him and where was he?  
>She rubbed at her head and sighed, trying to remember. She remembered that Ichigo had been put through hollowfication-<p>

"Ichi-nii…!"She gasped, getting to her feet and winced as she felt her back ache from the strain of- of what? She grew more frustrated. She felt weaker than what she was when she first came here… did she already go through hollowfication?

She blinked and then sighed. Of course she hadn't gone through hollowfication; she would have surely remembered the pain. She walked over to the door and tugged the handle, surprised that it was actually open. She tiptoed through and then stopped in her tracks, Szayel's lab now in view. Szayel sat at a monitor and then looked at the security screen to see Karin out of the examining room and turned to see her staring at him, confused. Behind the monitor lay Hitsugaya, out of sight from Karin.

"I see the princess has awoken." said Szayel, sneering slightly before turning back to the monitor and stared at the right hand side, examining fluctuating pulse rates and the screen below it showed brain wave activity.

Karin took a few steps forwards and raised an eyebrow hat she wasn't stopped. What was going on?  
>She reached for her neck slowly and found a collar wrapped round it tightly, the same could be said for her wrists. She was about to take another step closer to the scientist when she saw a familiar tuft of white. She then approached that and began trembling as she saw the form of her beloved Snowflake.<p>

Szayel followed her gaze. Although the hollowfication was successful, it had taken it's toll on the small ones body and for his own survival was put in a comatose state until he could recover. He stared at the left hand side of the monitor, examining his unstable spiritual energy.  
>Karin walked to him and then kneeled down so her head was level with him. An air mask had been put over his mouth and various wires were placed over various parts of his body, the one thing that was bothering her was the hole in his chest and the mask on his face. Other than that he looked fine, at peace if you could say that. His injuries had all healed up, probably due to high speed regenerationhealing.

Karin continued to stay at his side until he felt someone tap her shoulder.

"I need you to move, his injection is due now." said Szayel impatiently, syringe in hand. The raven wondered momentarily on what was actually in the jag but then she knew that it wouldn't be something that would kill him, so she moved silently and looked away as Toshiro's head was knocked to the side. She looked at the screens and then raised her eyebrows in shock at the spike in spiritual pressure. She glanced back at the Snowflake and then seen his face contort in some form of pain.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing to him?" shouted Karin, shoving Szayel out the way and appearing next to Toshiro once more, putting her hand on his forehead. This seemingly calmed him instantly as his expression became peaceful again.

"I'm boosting his spiritual pressure." said Szayel, annoyed that she had gotten his robe slightly dirty, "the Hogyoku took a lot out of him so I give him several injections everyday to boost his spiritual pressure. After the amounts of shots today, it should be a few minutes before he wakes up."

Karin let out a sigh of relief before she got back onto her knees and waited patiently for him to wake up. Szayel was back at his monitors and was now writing on a clipboard, clearly smug at the process he had made. On the spiritual pressure screen, it shows a high increase. Szayel knew that once he awoke, another suppressing collar must be made, one that is stronger than the last.

Toshiro shifted slightly and let out a small groan before opening his eyes, one eye looking red as if picking up the body heat of the target. His body instantaneously registered Karin as a human and then his instincts told him to eat her but thanks to his other eye, he controlled himself as he managed to recognize on who it was.

"Ka…rin…" he whispered, closing the eye behind his hollow mask and then stared at her through his now jade eye. Karin petted him on the head and leaned her head against his shoulder as Szayel approached them, removing the mask from his face and removing most of the wires apart from the ones on his wrists.

She smiled. The first genuine smile she had made since she had gotten here. Her Snowflake was finally awake. He remembered her; he didn't want to hurt her. Her eyes glanced to the side as one of his hands twitched and tried to move, only to be restrained by straps. She moved her hand up to his and clasped it, causing Toshiro to relax once more.

Unknown to the happy two, Szayel was writing every single aspect of what was going on. Although he hated writing about 'gentle and loving' movements, it was rather helpful to know that either one of them could be manipulated if the other was in threat. Now he was going to put that to the test.

Sonido'ing quietly behind Karin, he picked her up by the waist and carried her sideways, causing her to cry out in protest. Toshiro's eyes darkened as he began struggling with the straps again, hissing and snarling while he opened his other eye, it registering Szayel to be an Arrancar yet also registering that he was the enemy. There was a large 'SNAP' sound as the strap keeping down the arm nearest Karin broke free, clawing at Szayel who only had to take a step to the side to avoid. Karin stopped struggling and stared at the snowy haired Taicho, her eyes wide. What had they done to him?

She quickly felt herself being moved as Szayel dodged a Cero, and then felt herself being put down as he went to examine the damage. A huge hole had been blasted through the wall and in its place ice was spreading across the wall.

"I see. Hitsugaya can you his Zanpaku-to's element in hollow attacks as well! How unique…" said Szayel. Karin ran to Toshiro's side and then wrapped her arms round him, ceasing his movements and allowing the cero he had been forming to disappear. He quickly felt a dull ache in his chest and let out a low hiss of pain as he snapped the other strap and allowed his hand to cover up his hollow hole.

Despite on what he now was, he new what kind of person he was and he would not turn into those hollow scumbags. He held Karin tightly, closing his eyes and looking down. He would not let Aizen get away with this…

* * *

><p>Byakuya traveled quietly down the hall, Soi Fon at his heels. Despite Soi Fon being a master of stealth, it was actually Kuchiki that enabled their escape. Now all they had to do was go rescue the two Kurosaki's and of course, Hitsugaya.<p>

They both stopped in their tracks as further ahead a wall got blast apart by a cero, ice following right after it.

"A hollows Cero and ice from Hyorinmaru?" questioned Soi Fon, raising an eyebrow.

"It appears to be both of them." said Byakuya, "But the Reiatsu released is very similar to Captain Hitsugaya's, only more hollow like."

"You think Hitsugaya had already gone through Hollowfication?" said Soi Fon in disbelief, then thinking, _"But it has only been days, possibly a week since we got here. Surely they wouldn't have put him through hollowfication already…"_

Soi Fon looked up to see Byakuya gone. She Shunpo'd after him and then appeared in Szayel's lab. She spotted the pink haired scientist right behind Hitsugaya. The Snowflake still had his arms wrapped round the younger Kurosaki, but the eye that wasn't covered by the mask widened as he spotted the other two captains in the room. His other eye instantly registered them and he heard a voice in his head.

_"Shinigami of the thirteen court guard squads. Kuchiki Byakuya, squad six Captain. Soi Fon, squad two captain and commander of the stealth and punishment force."_

"I see we have company." said Szayel, still standing behind Toshiro with a needle in hand. Byakuya raised his hand as if to perform Kido but then felt a blade at his throat.

"Do not try anything, trash." commanded the cold voice of Ulquiorra. Byakuya blinked and the turned his head towards Soi Fon, but her mouth had been covered by Grimmjow, her arms being twisted violently behind her back.

"A new toy eh?" said Grimmjow playfully, twisting her arms further until he felt her wriggle in discomfort.

* * *

><p>Underneath Aizen's palace was where Ichigo, Rukia and Gin were being held. Ichigo rocked back in forth, his head in his hands as he whimpered quietly.<p>

"Rukia… Ru...kia…" he shook and trembled as the girl in front of him wouldn't move.

"Relax." came a voice from behind him. Ichigo turned round to see the fox-faced man staring at him while clutching at a rib. "She's still alive; just give her some time to recover…"

"Y-you're…" whispered Ichigo, unknown to the fact that Gin had been there the whole time. "Ich-Ichimaru?"

"Guess ya haven't gone completely insane yet." replied Gin, wincing slightly. "Listen to me, you have to remain calm and think. There is a way out of this y'know."

"A way… o-out?" uttered Ichigo in disbelief.

"Ya heard right." replied Ichimaru, "Remain sane and wait for the girl to wake up."

"Hang on… I thought your speech was dodgy." said Ichigo, blinking.

"Ya mean this?" said Gin, putting his fox grin back on and began speaking again, "Ya really wan' meh ta talk like this again? Ya can' beh serious."

"Yeah, that's the way you used to talk." said Ichigo, "What's with the change?"

"I dunno, just decided to talk normally." replied Ichimaru, turning his head towards Rukia." Look, she's waking up."  
>Ichigo turned his head towards Rukia, his eyes glistening as she turned his head towards her.<p>

"Rukia, you're-"

"Who are you?" she asked, clutching at her head. "Actually, who am I?"

* * *

><p>AN: . I dunno what to say, I shouldn't have been allowed to update today since I was a very naughty girl in school today... Running from the deputes is fun though XDD Anyway, thanks for reviewing, adding this to your favs and subscriptions, it really makes my day! Now for the spoiler...

* * *

><p>Spoiler:<p>

"Who are you?" asked Rukia, clutching at her head, "Actually, who am I?"

Ichigo stared at her in disbelief while Gin cracked an eye open and stared at the young Kuchiki.

"It appears as if the electricity shots and jolts have damaged her brain and memory." said Ichimaru, thinking, "We'll just have to wait until she recovers her memory before we try to move."

"What if she never recovers her memory?" asked Ichigo, sighing and then looking towards his 'midget'. "Oi, your name is Rukia and my name is Ichigo, over here is Ichimaru."

"Now, now, at least let her know my first name," he said, shutting his eyes, "my full name is Gin Ichimaru."

"Ok?" she said confusedly, still clutching her head. "And where am I?"

"In Huecho Mundo." said Ichigo and Gin at the same time. Rukia widened her eyes and then stared at them.

"Isn't that where the hollows come from?" she said, "Why aren't I in the Soul Society? Where's Renji?"

"You remember where you are from… do you know what you are?" asked Ichigo.

"A Soul Reaper."

* * *

><p>AN: And thats about it . Hope you enjoyed and I'll get to your reviews now, Thank you again


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Who are you?" asked Rukia, clutching at her head, "Actually, who am I?"

Ichigo stared at her in disbelief while Gin cracked an eye open and stared at the young Kuchiki.

"It appears as if the electricity shots and jolts have damaged her brain and memory." said Ichimaru, thinking, "We'll just have to wait until she recovers her memory before we try to move."

"What if she never recovers her memory?" asked Ichigo, sighing and then looking towards his 'midget'. "Oi, your name is Rukia and my name is Ichigo, over here is Ichimaru."

"Now, now, at least let her know my first name," he said, shutting his eyes, "my full name is Gin Ichimaru."

"Ok?" she said confusedly, still clutching her head. "And where am I?"

"In Huecho Mundo." said Ichigo and Gin at the same time. Rukia widened her eyes and then stared at them.

"Isn't that where the hollows come from?" she said, "Why aren't I in the Soul Society? Where's Renji?"

"You remember where you are from… do you know what you are?" asked Ichigo.

"A Soul Reaper."

Gin nodded his head understandingly.

"She has forgotten simple things such as people and what has happened in current events." said Gin.

"I don't think you should call that 'simple'" said Ichigo.

"It's simple compared to what some of Aizen's 'play' things have been through." Replied Gin dryly.

* * *

><p>Karin stared at the two captains, shocked. <em>Were they idiots? Did they want to be caught again? <em>It made no sense. The female captain had been caught off guard and Byakuya didn't dare move with the fourth Espada right next to him.

Szayel let a smirk cross his features as he stepped forwards, grabbing Hitsugaya's hair and pulling him back. The Snowflake let out a hiss before he felt something pierce his neck. His eyes began to droop and then he fell forwards, into the arms of Karin. The Raven shot Szayel a glare before cradling him gently.

Byakuya set his mind to work quickly. Three high ranking Espada's were in the room and the Captain next to him was already caught. The one a few feet away was unconscious in the female Kurosaki's arms and he was in the middle of trying to figure out a way to get past the 4th Espada without getting anyone killed. After a few minutes it seemed useless and the he just stood still. Without his sword and his Shunpo probably out-mastered by Sonido, he couldn't use Kido fast enough either, there wasn't really much he could do.

"What do we have here?"

All eyes looked towards the cracked wall to see Aizen standing there clearly not amused that one of the walls to his palace had been destroyed. He had already noticed that Byakuya and Soi Fon had escaped, he was more interested about the 'Arrancar' in Karin's arms. Karin's grip tightened on him as she glared, knowing for certain she would get punished for it later.

"I see the Princess has awoken too." Continued Aizen, "I was positive that Hitsugaya was awake, I felt his spirit energy flare and then died down."

"I'm sorry Aizen-sama," said Szayel, "I had to knock him out to avoid him destroying anymore of your home."

Aizen smirked and then approached the two, earning a glare from Soi Fon and a look of disgust from Byakuya. He appeared next to Karin, prying her away from Karin and the picking Toshiro up to look at him. The mask glinted slightly. Although Szayel was completely unaware of it, Toshiro was still conscious, his hollow eye determined not to let him fall into a world of bleak darkness.

Aizen found this fascinating, ever since the child had been turned into an Arrancar; new abilities have been cropping up at any moment of time. Toshiro did not find this fascinating at all, considering people keep picking him up and knocking him out, examining him like there was no tomorrow. Karin let out a hiss as Szayel held her back.

"I do believe Hitsugaya will get a new room." Said Aizen, his eyes looking to the side, "Remember, I want that collar made in less than an hour."

"Yes Aizen-sama."

* * *

><p>"So I'm a soul reaper and I gave you powers. I broke the law of the soul society and nearly got executed. You saved me, Captain Aizen turned traitor, you-" Rukia pointed at Gin, "-should be dead but were brought back by Aizen. Aizen kidnapped both Hitsugaya Taicho and your sister called 'Karin'. I was tortured with electricity and now I can't remember anything? You expect me to believe all of that?"<p>

Ichigo and Gin nodded. They had spent the last hour explaining to her on what was going on. She, however, didn't seem to believe a word that was coming out of their mouths.

"Rukia, we're telling the truth." Said Ichigo, nodding his head, "You saved me and my family, we saved Inoue from the place we are now, you helped me regain my Shinigami powers."

"If you say so."

Gin sighed and rested a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"Let it drop for now, she'll regain her memories soon enough." He said quietly. Ichigo nodded.

* * *

><p>Karin sat back in her cell. Toshiro was not by her side. Aizen had muttered on about his precious Arrancar getting a nicer room and that had pissed her off to the max. Her Snowflake was not someone to be taken lightly, and she knew no matter how much torture he was put under he would not go to Aizen's side.<p>

She sat; her knees tucked up at her chest and her head resting on them as she thought. She had been allowed to sit with Toshiro for around half an hour before she was brought back here, and at that point Szayel had been making a new collar.

"_What are they planning to do…?" _She thought, shifting slightly and then tracing a finger round her own collar, _"Will they hurt him again? Make him suffer…?"_

Aizen stood in the corner of the room, a smirk on his face as he watched the sleeping Snowflake. The room he had been transferred to had a double bed with silk sheets and had curtains for privacy. At the side of the room was a private bathroom. The room itself was far to big for one person, especially considering the size of Hitsugaya himself.

Aizen took to Toshiro's side and then marvelled at the sight once more. The mask remained the same and so did every single physical aspect of Hitsugaya; Aizen was now admiring the collar. It glowed faintly from suppressing Reiatsu and would flicker occasionally when the Snowflake was dreaming something unpleasant or painful. Aizen found it quite amusing actually.

"Well, I would stay but the 'Princess' in now due for her Hollowfication." Said Aizen smugly, brushing a bit of hair from Hitsugaya's face and then whispered in his ear, "the time shall come soon, little Ice Prince."

* * *

><p>Two separate cells, Byakuya's now having a more powerful barrier around his since he was physically and mentally stronger than Soi Fon was. He struggled uselessly at his binds, causing them to tighten around his wrist and rise in temperature, burning him. Soi Fon had received the same binds, but she continued to struggle even with the burning.<p>

"Stop struggling, you'll only make it worse." Said Byakuya after a moment, allowing the binds to cool down and loosen slightly. Soi Fon glared but eventually did stop, her eyes full of fury.

"What do we do now? I'm sure these won't work with Kido!" growled Soi Fon, frustrated.

"Relax, and thin." Came the Kuchiki's short reply, closing his eyes.

"Hmph."

* * *

><p>Szayel's lab was becoming more and more common to see, but this was one of the times she did not want to be here. The Hogyoku sat in a glass cabinet and at the side of the room, chains could be visible. They had been adjusted to her size and it looked slightly more complex than when Ichigo had been chained to it. Actually, Ichigo had just taking pain straight of the bat, Karin was guessing that the freak of a scientist was going to numb her slightly.<p>

She got dragged further across the room and as her human survival instincts kicked in, she dug her heels in the ground and with as much force as she could muster, pulled back. Halibel looked back at her with a sorrowful expression before lifting her of her feet and carrying her the rest of the way, causing screams of protest and boots to the stomach that the Espada couldn't even feel.

"I see she is ready to go through with her Hollowfication." Came a voice from the door. Halibel and Karin froze and then looked towards the door to see Aizen standing there smugly. Szayel bounded across the room and bowed at his feet loyally.

"Yes Aizen-sama, everything has been prepared." Said Szayel, pointing over to the chains and the table next to it, containing drugs and of course, the Hogyoku. "I will start whenever you see fit."

"I see no problem in starting now." Replied Aizen, walking across the room and the standing next to Halibel as he peered into Karin's face. Raising a hand, he allowed a finger to land on her cheek, trace down her neck and allowed it to land on her heavily beating heart. "Do not worry, you will not be an Arrancar, just a Vizard like your brother. Perhaps in the future you will be an Arrancar."

Karin came back to her senses and snarled, aiming a weak punch at his face and as per usual, he caught it and put pressure on her knuckles, making her wince.

"Bastard…" she spat. Aizen smirked.

"Szayel, start now."

* * *

><p>AN: NA NA NAIII! I'M GOING TO AN N-DUBZ CONCERT TONIGHT XDDDD Actually, I shouldn't be updating right now, I should be getting ready but I knew I had to update or a few people migt want to kill me for NOT updating and-and... I'm getting excited lol.  
>I'm not gonna bother with the reviews today, just gonna thank everyone for reading and reviewing from when I started this story ^^<br>THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! *bows*


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Toshiro stirred and then woke up abruptly as he heard screams from not to far off. He got to his feet and walked over to the wall, laying his hand off it but then retracting it as it gave him a shock. The walls had some form of barrier over them and it gave of electricity to whoever tried to touch it. The screams continued but the had died down a bit, probably due to her throat becoming coarse.

"Karin…" he whispered, and then aimed a punch at the wall only to get tossed across the room, landing with a large 'THUD' at the other side and whacking himself against the other wall. He let out a low groan as he sat himself back up. Th screaming had stopped but he could still feel her in pain.  
>He looked around the room and ran round it a few times, looking at every single crack and dent to see if there was a way out. There was none.<p>

* * *

><p>Karin let her head hang look as she gasped for breath, sweat pouring down from her head and running down the sides of her face as a mask clattered to the ground. Watching Ichigo go through it was bad enough, but going through it herself was even worse. Szayel appeared by her side with a cloth and began wiping the sweat away, but Aizen stopped him.<p>

he scientist took a step back and bowed before walking over to his computer, mask in hand. Karin continued to look down and then froze as she felt Aizen's hand stroke against her cheek. She then felt it drop down to her chin and force her to look up at him.  
>Red eyes met brown ones and this caused Aizen to smirk. Szayel had informed him of Karin's fire ability, he just never thought it would be true.<p>

"How interesting." He murmured, causing Karin to hiss.

"Don't touch me." She hissed vehemently, her head knocking to the side so that her hair covered her eyes again. Aizen kept his hand at his chin and smiled.

"That's not a very nice way to talk to someone, especially since I was going to let you see Hitsugaya." Said Aizen, fake smile on his face as Karin snapped her head up, her eyes instantly going back black. Aizen smiled smugly. "I knew that would work."

* * *

><p>Gin slumped slightly as he stared at Ichigo. He had spent the last two hours riddling Kido energy through his binds and into Ichigo's collar. Rukia would have been better for the job but she was still recovering and Ichigo didn't know how to use Kido so it was useless; he had to do it. It was tiring just getting the collar up but he struggled back up and proceeded to remove the cuffs.<p>

Ichigo turned his head to Rukia who had grabbed the other cuff and was now focusing her own kido energy into it.

"Why are you helping me escape? Why not yourselves?"  
>They both looked up at him.<p>

"Even if me and Rukia escaped, we wouldn't be strong enough to escape." Said Gin quietly.

"I agree with him," said Rukia, "even with these spiritual suppressers on, I can still sense your immense Reiatsu."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes slightly. They were all putting their trust in HIM. What use was he? He only just managed to regain his Shinigami powers and they were already putting their faith in him? Just great.

"Ichigo, when you get out of here, knock out the guards just outside the cell and take they keys off them." said Gin, wincing slightly as he felt his fingers burn from the pressure he was applying to the cuffs. "Then come back and let us out, then we'll go help your sister and Hitsugaya, then we'll go help Kuchiki and Soi fon."

"I gotcha." Said Ichigo, feeling both his cuffs break free and his reiatsu flared dramatically. Rukia face-palmed.

"IDIOT JUST GO!" she shouted, watching Ichigo Shunpo out the room.

* * *

><p>Byakuya snapped his head up as he felt that familiar Reiatsu fill the air.<p>

"It appears as if Kurosaki has escaped-" Byakuya froze as he felt another spiritual pressure appear, "and Gin Ichimaru appears to have escaped too. I thought he was dead."

"That's what I thought." Said Soi Fon through gritted teeth, then felt another Reiatsu appear as well. "Is that-"

"Rukia." Murmured Byakuya, getting to his feet. "I wonder how long she had been here…"

"If her spiritual pressure had been sealed since arriving she may have been here the whole time." Said Soi Fon. Byakuya looked at her; that was the most intellectual thing she had ever said since being here.

"Let's hope not." Said Byakuya dryly. Then he remembered the screaming. There was so much screaming when they had first arrived and he had always thought it to be Kurosaki Ichigo; but who was the other person? Rukia?

"There isn't much we can do in our current state anyway." Continued Byakuya, sitting back down. Soi Fon frowned.

"You always say that." She grumbled.

* * *

><p>Toshiro sat in the middle of the floor, frustrated. He couldn't use any spiritual attacks and the walls were infused with electricity. His burnt hand had already been healed by instant regeneration and his hollow side was screaming at him to kill everyone who appeared in his path. Fortunately for our Snowflake, he always stuck with his human side.<p>

Another few moments passed and he grumbled. He felt like killing someone… right… now…  
>Then the door started to unlock and he stared at it as the barrier just vanished.<p>

"_The person who cast the barrier must have unlocked it…"_

Thought the Snowflake, watching the door swing open. Aizen walked through, Karin by his side; but she was being dragged forcefully by her collar.

"You can spend some time with her before training Hitsugaya." Sneered Aizen, pushing Karin in so she toppled and fell over. He then placed his hand in his robe and pulled out a mask and tossed it next to her. "Since you have some free time, you can figure out how to use that mask."

Then he left and Karin was left cowering on the floor. It was a split second later that Toshiro was by her side, hugging her in a tight embrace. As he continued to hug her, his hand reached for the mask and he began to exam it. Full mask with sharp edgings at the bottom, his hand instantly got cut but then healed itself. Around the eyes of the mask were dull orange with strips of black through it, the rest of it having slashes of red, slightly forming fire in Toshiro's eyes. He continued to cradle Karin as she relaxed slightly, her arms curling up in front of her chest as she felt the fammiliar reiatsu of her Snowflake surround her, even if it could only be sensed slightly through the collar and have a hollow tint to it.

Toshiro placed the mask back down and raised his hand to circle round his own mask, sighing. Karin felt like Karin, but since he was an arrancar perhaps he wouldn't notice if she had a hollow side or not. he bowed his head and allowed himself to lean against Karin.

"I'm sure they'll come to help soon... Karin..." he whispered quietly, closing his eyes.

* * *

><p>In the soul Society, Ukitake stared at the results that Kurotuchi had brought onto the screen.<p>

"As you can see, it is impossible to open a Garganta to Huecho Mundo due to the shifting space." said Mayuri, "If we were to go through there we would either be sent into the past or the future, which would be no help to Hitsugaya, Kuchiki, Soi Fon and the two Kurosaki's."

"Then what do we do?" said Ukitake, his hand resting on his chin, "Just sit here and wait? You honestly think Aizen will keep them alive?"

"We'll just have to wait and see about that." replied Mayuri. Kyoraku appeared next to his best friends side and tilted his hat.

"And to think I thought you were the smartest person in the whole of the soul society." said Kyoraku, making a vein pop in Mayuri's forehead, "I mean, surely you could do something-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!" shouted Mayuri, "I'LL BE DOING THIS MY WAY!"

* * *

><p>Ichigo, Gin and Rukia sneaked forwards, Gin knocking out Numero's on the way, Ichigo killing the ones he didn't spot and Rukia casting random kido spells when she thought needed.<p>

"Hey, Ichigo..." whispered Rukia, stopping. Ichigo looked back at her with a frown.

"What is it Rukia? An Arrancar?" said Ichigo, furrowing his brow as he looked round.

"N-no..." said Rukia softly, "I was wondering... Are you from a town called Karakura?"  
>Ichigo raised an eyebrow as Gin nodded.<p>

"She's starting to remember, even if it is only slightly." said Gin quietly, "Rukia, continue to try and recover your memories, but keep an eye out while we're moving, ok?"

Rukia nodded and continued moving, keeping up a barrier as the walked.

* * *

><p>Karin woke up with a start and then looked round the pitch black room, feeling something warm underneath her. After feeling about after a while, she felt a fammiliar tuft of hair and the faint glow of a collar and sighed with relief.<p>

"Shiro... you're ok... thank goodness..." she breathed, then noticing that he was sound asleep. She stroked her forehead before wrapping her arms round his waist, snuggling into him and closing her eyes again. In the corner of the room an eye glinted as he watched the sleeping pair. His eyes glinted with cruel intent as he then noted that they seemed to happy, peaceful.

"Time to fix that." he whispered, brushing a brown strand of hair from his face, "Pawns are not allowed to be happy."

* * *

><p>AN: *faints* So many... reviews *gulp* I better keep updating or some people are going to kill me! *panics* heh heh... Hope you enjoyed ^^


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

When Toshiro woke up once more, he glanced around the room and panicked when he noticed he had been moved again. It was a long chamber like room with lots of windows around the sides. The whole right hand side was rimmed with holes with small shooters sticking out them while the left side appeared to be spiked. The ceiling was shaped in a rectangular formation and everything appeared to be unbreakable. After squinting for a minute, he then noticed the ceiling was actually a huge screen, due to it flashing and a camera then being adjusted by the freaky pinked haired scientist. Then they camera fell on Aizen, who sat impatiently in his throne, tapping his fingers on his arm rest as he smiled smugly at seeing Hitsugaya staring, clearly startled.

A jade eye twitched as Aizen sat up straight and smirked. Next to him stood Grimmjow, who he was silently giving orders to. The Snowflake let out a frown as Aizen turned back to him, the screen flickering slightly when the door was slammed shut.

"Hitsugaya, as you can see, your training begins today." Said Aizen.

"What kind of training is this?" hissed Toshiro, "It looks more like a torture chamber than a training room."

"This is to train your endurance Hitsugaya." Replied Aizen smugly. Toshiro narrowed his eyes, furious.

* * *

><p>Mayuri put on a smug expression. He had made one hundred electronic beetles that had a one hundred year lift time. If the portals were mixing up time, surely some of his electronic beetles would get through? Yes, they did. Five of the beetles had gotten through in total and had already infiltrated the Huecho Mundo palace. He was surprised that Five of them had managed to get into the exact time frame that they were in but yet again things like that happened. He watched the beetles on five different monitors, one was following Ichigo, Rukia and that traitor Gin Ichimaru. One had broken into Byakuya and Soi Fon's cell. The third one had attached to Hitsugaya and the forth was with Karin, the last one was actually spying on Aizen.<p>

He looked at the screen containing the three he had been followed and smirked.

"From the data I had received, Ichimaru Gin should be dead." Said Mayuri, putting on a maniac grin, "I guess he would be an interesting specimen for experimentation."

He then looked at Byakuya and Soi Fon's screen to see their whole top half had restricted movement but the could still stand and communicate with one another. Then examining Karin's he saw that blue haired Arrancar known as Grimmjow Jeagurjaques leading her into a room with windows and just as he turned his focus to Toshiro's screen-

The screams and cries of pain fills the monitor and even Mayuri had to cover his ears. He looked a bloody state, to sharp spike coming out of his shoulders and energy balls that looked similar to ceros were being fired at him, burning, scraping and bursting open pieces of flesh. The one thing that piqued Kurotsuchi was that Hitsugaya had a mask and a hollow hole. There was another cru of pain as another cero like ball hit him and then Mayuri raised an eyebrow as the Snowflake raised his hand slightly and fired what he knew as a 'Bala'. Then there was another cry as the spikes behind him pushed further into his flesh and then he looked up and fires a cero upwards, this time forming it in hid mouth before firing. Something shattered about him and the was a loud screech as the room dimmed slightly. Hitsugaya turned his head towards the shooters and then received one of the blasts directly to his face.

Then there was screaming as a door opened and Karin was pushed in along with him.

"I see. I must figure out how to fix the shifting space immediately…" muttered Mayuri, turning to his large computer and began his research.

* * *

><p>The Snowflake looked round to see his beloved Raven in the room with him and panicked instantly. He felt the spikes in his shoulders deepen and he winced, but refused to cry out in the presence of Karin. He looked at the shooters to see them now aiming at her. His eyes widened as he forced himself to move, a small whimper leaving his lips as he felt the sharp pain of the spikes leaving his shoulders and the balls of energy meant for Karin hitting him instead.<p>

Karin let of a horrified scream as Toshiro collapsed in front of her and then looked up in time to see another attack launched at her. She dodged quickly and her eyes went red in fury.

"How… dare you…" she screeched. She raised her hand and a flare of flames left it, destroying the ball with hardly any effort at all before she kneeled down next to the Snowflake and pulled up his sleeves, revealing to black lines running up his arms.

_"So these are the markings Grimmjow was talking about…"_thought Karin, recalling what Grimmjow had told her not long before she was brought here, _"According to what he said, these marking were put on Shiro by Aizen himself, preventing him instantly healing himself."_

She looked up as she sighed. She didn't want to resort to it, but she was going to have to. She raised a hand to her face and summoned forth her mask, making a low growl as she felt the unfamiliar presence of her hollow appear over her face.

"_Whatever you do, don't get yourself killed…" _said a voice in her head_. _

_"Yea, yeah…" _Karin responded, before blocking off and while keeping Toshiro in her arms, she let a flare of Reiatsu spread round her, instantly forming fire and circling round her. The balls of energy disintegrated before they could reach her but she was still aware of the spikes that were getting closer and closer. Toshiro opened his eyes a crack and noticed this too, before putting his mind to work. If Karin was able to destroy the balls of energy but couldn't destroy the spikes, then it was his job to-

"Reign over the frosted heavens, HYORINMARU!"

"Shiro, don't-!" But it was already too late. A blade had materialized in his hand and an ice dragon had spurted out of it, much to Karin's dismay. It soared over the flames and crashed into the oncoming spikes, freezing them. Then clapping began behind their backs.

"Congratulations, you figured out the puzzle." Said Aizen, looking at the ice on the spikes. "I do believe I prefer this Hyorinmaru to the original."

Karin snapped her head towards the ice once more and true enough, the ice was different. It was black. Blacker than the night sky.

"It's a beautiful sight. The black goes with moon white hair." Continued Aizen, "I also noticed that your flames have changed slightly too."

Karin shot him a glare before she shot a flame at him angrily, only to get it deflected by powerful Reiatsu. Karin grimaced and feel to her knees under the pressure, sweat running down her face as she felt her energy draining from her. Toshiro tensed momentarily before he dropped his sword and collapsed just before Karin too collapsed. She glared and the slowly closed her eyes."You… You…" She whispered, feeling her consciousness leave her.

"Goodnight Kurosaki Karin."

Then the world went black.

* * *

><p>Byakuya furrowed his brow in worry as he felt both Hitsugaya and the younger Kurosaki's spiritual pressure flicker and then fade, but could tell that they were still alive. Soi Fon remained frustrated and was half-caring. She took the child-like position of tucking her head between her knees.<p>

Byakuya remained his cross legged position and sighed.

"… This is bad." he said after a moment of thought. Soi Fon shot him a glare."Are you trying to tell me you JUST noticed?" she spat. Byakuya shot her a cold glare. He was getting fed up with her childish temper tantrums.

"Be quiet." he ordered."

"I WILL NOT!" She screeched, her eyes narrowing and if looks could kill people, the noble would surely be dead. He ignored her and stared at the beetle on the wall. It was a miracle it could even get in her, the barrier's should of killed it-

Byakuya let a knowing smirk cross his features.

"Kurotsuchi Mayuri."

Soi Fon's expression became confused.

"What's… going on?" she said, looking at the wall, "It's only a bug damn it!"

She kept her eyes focused on the beetle as it suddenly beeped and a voice came out of it.

"Well done Kuchiki, I never thought you would get it so quickly." said a voice from the beetle; Mayuri.

"Why hasn't anyone come from the soul society yet?" questioned Byakuya.

"We are not to blame," he replied, "there is a problem through Senkimon's and Garganta's, making it impossible for us to get through. There is a shifting time rift and if we went through it we might end up in a completely different time, which would not be helpful to any of you."

"Well, how long will it be until you fix it?" said Byakuya, "Because if you do not worry Kurosaki Karin and Hitsugaya Toshiro may become a threat to the soul society."

"I can see that." came the dry reply from the mad scientist, "From the data I have received, I have estimated the time to fix the time rifts shall be… two days."

* * *

><p>Toshiro opened his eyes and looked round, widening his eyes. It was clear he was back in Szayel's lab, the question was why? He began struggling with his binds but then stopped as he felt the pink haired lunatics presence next to him.<p>

"You should relax more Hitsugaya, I am only healing you."

"Then why the hell am I bound to a lab table?" hissed Toshiro, beginning to struggle once more

"Because I knew you wouldn't stay still and let me." snapped Szayel, "Now be still!"

Toshiro let out another low hiss as he felt the wounds in his shoulders being poked and prodded. He turned at head to the side and closed his eyes, but he didn't shut them early enough to see the figure next to him. She was unconscious, breathing heavily at the mask covering her face. Raven hair splayed beneath her and was slightly tangled and a line of sweat ran down her forehead. Toshiro's eyes flashed with anger.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?"

Szayel covered his mouth with his hand and leant over so his lips were against his ear.

"I'm afraid when she used her ability to protect you it took a turn for the worst." he whispered slyly, making the Snowflake go rigid, "She risked her life to save YOU, YOU are the source of her pain. If only YOU had been stronger, YOU could have protected her."

Toshiro clenched his eyes shut and tried to block him out, but it was futile.

"If YOU really wanted to protect her, YOU would try and become stronger, but YOU are just a hopeless, used-to-be Shinigami that couldn't even defend himself in a TRAINING session!"

Toshiro shook his head from side to side, his eyes screwed shut.

"Enough!" he cried suddenly, forcing himself to hold back tears, "enough…"

Szayel pulled back but before he left he gave a jab to one of his wounds and grinned evilly as he winced.

"Better get stronger before she ends up getting herself killed protecting you." said Szayel walked out the room and switched off the light.

Toshiro remained still before he began shaking and burst out in tears. He made a promise to himself, in the bleak darkness.

"_I will become stronger Karin… become strong enough for me to protect you. Not me…"_

* * *

><p><em>AN: TA DA! I present you a new update *since I have my memory stick back lol* Sorry I took so Long XDD Hope you enjoyed and I hope to see your names again XD  
><em>


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"I will become stronger Karin… become strong enough for me to protect you. Not me…"

He made that promise, a promise on his soul. Well, if he had a soul, he was sure since Hollows and Arrancar's don't have hearts then they cant have souls either.  
>The Snowflake closed his eyes and listened to the rough breathing of Karin, hearing a soft gasp that instantly went back to her normal breathing. Toshiro turned his head towards the ceiling, closing his normal eye and staring through the hollow eye. Everything flickered red and then began glowing to him and he instantly picked up on the body heat of himself and Karin.<p>

If he focused hard enough, it seemed like he was cold blooded and Karin warm blooded, but that was probably because he had an ice-type Zanpaku-to. He closed both eyes and sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day and he didn't know how much rest he would get, so he better get it now.

* * *

><p>"I see." commented Byakuya, looking towards Soi Fon, "Captain Soi Fon, be patient a while longer."<p>

"Two more days?" she breathed, closing her eyes and nodding. "I understand."

"Although, I must say, Kurosaki Ichigo, Ichimaru Gin and Kuchiki Rukia are doing exceedingly well in their escape," said Mayuri, the beetle giving another beep, "They have not yet been caught."

"I could sense that pretty well." replied the noble stiffly, "Hopefully they won't get caught."

"According to the recording I have received from the beetles, they seem to being helped by the supposedly dead Ichimaru. How curious…" said Kurotsuchi again.

"Aizen resurrected him but he refused to obey him." said Byakuya dryly.  
>-<p>

"ICHIGO!" shouted Rukia, narrowly dodging a blade and then running towards her fallen partner, who was now clutching at his side where blood was seeping out. Gin stood near him, Shinso fully extended and was piercing an Arrancar's skull while his foot was planted into someone else's gut.

"Bankai, KamiShininoyari."

Rukia let out a scream as a blade extended right past her and made the whole corridor crumble behind her and killing the Arrancar who had nearly stabbed her. Gin let out a smirk before he winced and fell down onto one knee, clutching at his chest.

"Gin!" shouted Rukia, Ichigo in her arms. I was a twist of luck really, they had entered a room full of Arrancar, but had found all of their Zanpaku-to's stored there Rukia heaved Ichigo over her shoulder and ran to Gin, but the felt herself skidding across the ground moments later. She loked up through her fringe as she struggled to get Ichigo's weight off her and widened her eyes. The person standing in front of her was…  
>Tia Halibel.<p>

Gin got to his feet quickly and deflected the person behind him, instantly recognizing him as Ulquiorra Schiffer.

"I believe you are being disobedient, Ichimaru." said Ulquiorra coldy, his sword Drawn as he block another quick swipe of Gin's blade.

"I'm sorry," said Halibel, looping a finger round the top of her hilts protecter and flipped it out, spinning it until she could hold the hilt fully in her hand, "I don not want to do this, but I now have to be respectful towards Aizen-Sama for graciously reviving me and my friends."  
>Rukia widened her eyes and got to her feet, clinging onto her blade fearfully. There was one problem though. She couldn't remember the name of her Zanpaku-to.<p>

_"I'm not going to tell you what my name is,"_ said a soft voice in her head, _"you'll have to remember for yourself Rukia."_

Rukia gulped audibly as she blocked a strike from Halibel, then grew surprised as it hardly had any force. She looked up into the eyes of the blonde and the hurt could easily be seen. She truly did not want to do this. Rukia thought for a few minutes and then panicked, she had to defend herself and Ichigo until she heard Halibel speak again.

"Don't worry, I won't attack the boy as I am fighting you."  
>Rukia nodded and then raised her sword, a quick flicker of a memory coming through her head.<p>

"Mai, Sode No Shiryuki."

"MAI, SODE NO SHIRAYUKI!" shouted Rukia, releasing her sword as a ribbon of white silk surrounded her, "Some No Mi, Tsukishiro!"  
>Halibel leapt out the way as an ice circle formed under her and narrowed her eyes. Although she did not want to hurt the young Kuchiki, she was not going to let herself get killed for it, she pointed her blade to the side.<p>

"Attack, Tiburon."

Gin skidded back through the wall he had just destroyed and somehow ended up in the dark cellars of Las Noches. He didn't know how many floors he had dropped, but he knew he was far away from Ichigo and Rukia.

"Damn it…" he muttered, turning to face his opponent who dropped to the bottom floor with hardly any effort at all. He was still in Bankai mode, but who knew how effective it would be against Ulquiorra Schiffer. Mind you, at one point the had even managed to stand up to Aizen, but that had been before he died and had a lot ore power than that. He raised his blade at pointed it at Ulquiorra.

"KamiShininoyari, Buto."

Ulquiorra stepped to the side and allowed the high speed Zanpaku-to to go past him. He drew his sword.

"If you refuse to surrender, I have no choice," said Ulquiorra silently, "Crush him, Murcielago ."

Gin felt his breath hitch slightly as the horrifying spiritual pressure entered the condensed cellar and aimed Shinso at him once more, failing to strike him due to the bat like wings. He retracted his sword but then instantly felt a clawed hand wrap round his throat.

"Give it up." said Ulquiorra solemnly, "You don't stand a chance."

Gin felt himself getting raised off the ground and then felt the other clawed hand stab through his gut. His eyes widened in surprise momentarily before he retched, blood dribbling down from him mouth and down his chin. It continued to run down his neck and was now pooling around Ulquiorra's hand. Ulquiorra kept a firm hold round his throat.

"I guess I'll just keep you like this until you lose consciousness."  
>Gin let out a gasp as he felt the room around him grow dizzy, but he wasn't willing to give up that easily. He raised his blade and grasped the hilt with both his hands, allowing his weight to drop around Ulquiorra's hand.<p>

"K-KamiShininoyari… Buto…Renjin…"  
>Ulquiorra's eyes widened as a quick flash of light was directed through his skull. He instantly dropped Gin and left him spluttering on the ground as he stared at the wall.<p>

"I'm sorry… Aizen-Sama…" said Ulquiorra, raising a hand to his skull but then felt it disintegrate before he could even touch his regenerating skull. "I failed you… again…"

Halibel and Rukia were on even fighting terms but the young Kuchiki knew that the Espada was going easy on her. Every strike she took to Halibel's blade revealed more and more sorrowful memories from Halibel and she didn't know how she could see them.  
>She quickly struck her blade forwards and aimed for Halibel's gut, which she narrowly dodged but ended up with blood spurting out of her shoulder. She clutched at it and lowered her encased arm just as Rukia charged again, not even bothering to defend herself.<p>

"Aizen-Sama… no, just Aizen…" she thought to herself, "I… am no longer in your control, you grasp. Goodbye, Sun-sun… Mila-Rose… Apache…"  
>Halibel opened her eyes as she felt a blade go through the side and actually, unbelievably, smiled. Rukia stared at her confused as she closed her eyes and fell forwards. Rukia, as a soul reaper should do, should have let her fall and hit the ground, but she wasn't like that.<p>

She swiftly caught Halibel in her arms and then laid her down next to Ichigo. After wiping a bit of blood from her face, she proceeded to heal Ichigo's wounds when she heard the Espada.

"Why… Do you spare me?" she asked quietly.

"Because…" Rukia paused for a moment, "I won't kill someone who never had any intent to kill me or my friends."

"I am your enemy." she responded, "If you let me live I'll be forced to work under Aizen again…"

"Not if I can help it." replied Rukia grimly, a memory from her execution flowing through her mind, "I'll kill the bastard by my own hands if I have to."

Toshiro opened his eyes immediately as a light was switched on and Szayel walked through with Stark by his side.

"This is the boy prodigy Aizen-Sama goes on about," said Szayel with a hint of pride in his voice, "I put him through the process of Hollowfication- oh look, he's even awake to greet you, right Hitsugaya?"

Toshiro growled lowly but the stopped as he felt the top half of his clothing get dragged off and his hollow hole revealed.

"As you can see, he's exactly like an Arrancar."

Stark looked at him and yawned.

"You brought me here to show me that? You disturbed mine and Lilynette's sleep to see a stubborn silver haired boy? Said Stark dully, staring at the Karin, "Who's she? She looks like a human."

"She is a human." said Szayel, "A human that has gone under the Vizard experiment."

"Whatever." said Stark, walking out the room, "Next time you decide to bother me, make sure it's important."

Szayel frowned and then approached Hitsugaya, tightening his collar around his neck and the released his binds.

"That's not the point, you have been summoned to stand before Aizen-Sama."

* * *

><p>Toshiro was put in front of Aizen and his eyes widened. On the floor, a body lay crumpled before him. Aizen gave him a smirk from his throne and rested his head against his hand.<p>

"Welcome back Hitsugaya," said Aizen, evil glinting in his eyes as his gaze shifted from Toshiro to Gin, who was now unconscious from blood loss. "I have a little 'job' for you to complete."

"I'll never do what you say." Toshiro hissed, feeling Szayel push him forwards a little.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that." said Aizen, "If you do not cooperate I can make sure the 'Princess' suffers."

Toshiro visibly stiffened and Aizen knew he had hit a nerve.

"I could put her in a torture chamber and allow her to scream herself hoarse-"

"ENOUGH!" shouted Toshiro, "LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!"

"Are you willing to cooperative?" said Aizen, clicking his tongue.

"… What is this 'job'?" questioned Toshiro. Aizen got off his throne and walked towards him, his lips brushing past his ear.

"Right on this very spot I want you to finish off Ichimaru Gin."

* * *

><p>AN: CLIFFHANGER! It took me a total of 8 hours to complete this chapter... it was so god damn hard! Reviews please? *gives all who reviewed a cookie*


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Right on this very spot I want you to finish off Ichimaru Gin."

The Snowflake widened at the very thought, never mind doing it. There was no way in hell he could hurt Ichimaru, he hadn't done anything wrong!

"No." said Toshiro coldly, already knowing the consequences but he would somehow figure a way out of them.

"So you really do not care for the little Princess, do you?" said Aizen evilly, pulling back from Toshiro and looking towards Szayel. "Go wake the Princess and bring her here."

* * *

><p>Karin wandered through the hall Cautiously and for once was thankful about the spiritual suppressor around her neck. This way no one could detect her movement. She had woken up not long ago and the first thing her hazy mind had registered was that her Snowflake was gone. She was just outside the room were she could hear everything and that was the final straw. Toshiro knew she was there, and he had deliberately said no, since he knew that she could run away. Stupid Szayel, forgetting to lock the door on her…<p>

She ran down one of the corridors and then stopped and hid at the side of a wall as she heard someone running. CRASH!  
>Their was a squeal of surprise as Karin hit the ground and bashed her head against the floor.<p>

"I'm so sorry Karin!"

Karin looked and was surprised to see Rukia standing in front of her, Halibel and Ichigo at her back.

"Rukia, Ichi-Nii!" said Karin, leaping at her brother and giving him a hug. "You don't know how good it feels to see you again!"

Karin then glared at Halibel but Rukia stood at her defence.

"Don't be mad at her, she's against Aizen." said Rukia, Halibel nodded slowly. Karin blinked and then look at Ichigo, noticing the large amount of blood on his clothes.

"You're hurt!" gasped Karin.

"I'm a lot better than what I was," said Ichigo lightly, "Rukia's healing Kido has improved."

"Shut up dumb-ass." said Rukia stubbornly, "Now is not the time."

Ichigo looked behind his shoulder and the grabs Karin and Shunpo'd away, Rukia and Halibel watched from a corner and then widened as Szayel ran right past them without even noticing them, his eyes focused as he ran into his lab.

"Ichi-Nii, we need to go right now… he's going in there for me…" said Karin, shrinking back slightly. Ichigo nodded and kneeled down and allowed her onto his back. Rukia then stepped forwards and placed her hand on Karin's collar.

"Let me remove that first-"

"Don't." said Karin quickly, "I don't know how to suppress my reiatsu by myself so it wouldn't be helpful if it was removed. You can remove it later."

"O-ok…" said Rukia, retracting her hands and then heard Szayel's lab door open again. "We need to go now!"

* * *

><p>Szayel rushed back into Aizen's throne room and instantly got back onto his knees.<p>

"I'm so sorry Aizen-sama!" he said, "I left the door unlocked since I never knew she would wake up so soon!"

Aizen raised an eyebrow and released his clutches from the Snowflake's throat and allowed him to fall to the ground.

"So now we have Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Rukia and the Princess on the loose?" said Aizen, "Never mind the fact that Halibel has betrayed me?"

Szayel nodded and Aizen then walked out of the room, his uniform flapping behind him. Toshiro rubbed at his throat gingerly before his eyes caught onto Gin's. they continued to stare for a while until urgent whispers could be heard.

"But what about the girl-"

"Be quiet Ichimaru." whispered Toshiro, feeling Szayel's glare on his back before he began whispering again. "If Karin has truly escaped without detection, she'll be able to defend herself. If she managed to escape without being detected then there's a high chance she is already with Ichigo and Rukia."

"But the question is… are you sure they two are alright?" whispered Gin seriously, his consciousness beginning to fail on him. "Last thing I knew was that Ichigo… had been knocked out… and Rukia… was fighting the 3rd Espada… Halibel…"  
>Toshiro looked at the ground and sighed.<p>

"Weren't you listening Gin?" said Toshiro quietly, "Halibel betrayed Aizen and is most likely on our side, for now anyway."

"For now…" thought Gin. Toshiro felt Szayel appear behind him and then grab him by the hair and drag him to his feet.

"We'll get the princess back, won't we little prince?" said Szayel coldly, his other hand reaching for his collar. Toshiro let out a low snarl and tried to get him to release his grip, but ended up with a sound slap across his face. Szayel let out a low hiss.

"You're coming with me as I search for her little Prince." said Szayel, grabbing both his wrists and twisting them behind his back. He then went into the pocket of his coat and brought out two cuff links and chained them both together before he could even think of struggling. Toshiro let out a small cry of pain as he felt a jolt of electricity go through his wrists and up his arms, making him stop his struggles and fall to his knees.

"Be good little prince, we'll find the Kurosaki girl soon."

* * *

><p>Ichigo turned round a corner and stopped, gasping for air as a trickle of sweat ran down his face. He didn't know how long he had been running, he just knew it had been a long time and with Karin on his back, it was very difficult.<p>

"Ichi-Nii, I can walk now-"

"It's fine Karin," he panted, wiping at his head, "I'll keep going till I get everyone out of here."  
>Karin nodded and then turned to Rukia.<p>

"Can you take off my collar now please?"

* * *

><p>Suppressing his reiatsu immediately, Byakuya looked over to where Kyoraku stood, undoing Soi Fon's binds quickly. He then looked up at Ukitake and nodded.<p>

"From the message I have received, Unohana Taicho, Abarai Fukutaicho, Hinamori Fukutaicho and Isane Fukutaicho are looking for the others and from the information we got from Captain Kurotsuchi, most of them should be together." said Ukitake, "We better go assist them."

"Agreed." said Byakuya. Soi Fon nodded with him and the quietly left the cell, lifting their feet over the unconscious Numero's and began moving again.

* * *

><p>"Good! We found you!" said Momo happily, standing in front of Ichigo, Rukia, Karin and Halibel, "Who's she?"<p>

Momo pointed at Halibel and Rukia quickly chipped in.

"A new friend." she said quickly, she's helped us a lot."

"From the information we had received, Hitsugaya Taicho should be with you." said Unohana softly, "but I do not see him."

"Where is he Kurosaki?" said Renji expectantly.

"I don't know-" Ichigo was cut off as a voice started echoing through the halls.

"You want to know where Hitsugaya is?" it echoed, "You seriously can't figure out where he is?"

Ichigo looked round to see multiple speakers around the halls and then held onto Karin tightly. Everyone else took a defensive stance.

"Do not fret, I won't come out and attack you," said the smug voice, "I just want to play a game with the Princess."

Karin visibly stiffened as there was a faint crackle in the speakers and then a cry of pain. Her eyes flashed with fury as she got off of Ichigo's back and started shouting.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?" she screeched, "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"Calm down Princess." said the voice, "I am only disciplining him. He refused a direct order from Aizen-Sama."

"Hey wait, I know this voice…" said Renji after a moment of thought. His brow furrowed in concentration, "It's the gay dude with the pink hair."

There was a hiss of annoyance and then another cry of pain.

"First of all, I am not GAY." he hissed, "And two, my name is SZAYEL APPORO GRANTZ!"

"Run a-" the sound was quickly muffled by a hand and then Szayel started talking again, "Bad boy, you know not to speak to them."

"I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE!" screeched Karin again.

"Princess." said Szayel shortly, "Come to me alone and I promise I won't hurt him anymore."

There was another scream of pain and Karin began trembling.

"What do I do? What… w-what do I… do…"

* * *

><p>Another scream of pain. And another. And another. Szayel played around with the control switch in his hand as if he was bored. The static was showing at the tips of his hair and sweat was pouring down has face at a drastic pace.<p>

"This isn't really amusing," said Szayel, "But then again, it's amusing to see the Kurosaki girl suffer since she's human still.

"S-still…?" Toshiro let out another cry of pain as electricity was jolted through him, "W-what d-do you m-mean- AHHHHHH!"

"You seriously think Aizen-Sama will keep her as a Vizard?" said Szayel slyly, "I think not, he'll make her into an Arrancar very soon."  
>It was a half hiss, half scream after the Snowflake heard that. He wasn't thinking clearly and his human side was starting to fail on him.<p>

_"Heh, I think you should let me do some damage boy."_

_"N-no… I'm not letting you-!"_ there was another cry of paint and a dull laugh erupted in his head.

_"Ya know ya wanna kill him, che, the bastard is hurting you AND the one you love!"_ The voice said again, "C'mon, let me out!_"_

_"I SAID NO!"_

Szayel tilted his head as he saw Toshiro whispering to himself frantically.

"What do we have here? Something new?" said Szayel, "C'mon Hitsugaya, let it out."

Szayel flicked the switch in his hand to 'max' setting. Then the blood-curdling screams ripped through the air like wild fire.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry if this chapter sucked, I was kinda in a rush to write it ^^ Thank you for reviewing *gives everyone cookies*


	12. Chapter 12

Snowflake Chapter Twelve

"I don't need you, I don't need your help-!"

"Shut up little Brat and watch!"

Szayel stood at the now non-moving snowflake, tilting his head to the side. His first thought was that he had knocked Hitsugaya out until he seen his movements shift slightly. He went to the control panel in his hand and sent another jolt through him but he didn't make a sound.

"Hey you, the _gay, pink-haired scientist._" Said Toshiro, looking up at him, hollow eye glowing a menacing red. "If you continue you're just gonna piss me off further."

Szayel raised an eyebrow.

"Piss you off further?" he sneered, "I think I'M the one that's pissed off. The red-head… I expected that from him, but from a mere experiment I didn't. you will need to be punished Hitsugaya."

"Who said Hitsugaya had any control of his movements right now?" said Toshiro, getting to his feet. One eye was closed while the other was glinting slightly. The collar round his neck glowed brightly from the strain of the Snowflake's hollow trying to break free.

"It's futile, you won't be able to-" Szayel quickly covered his face as a huge explosion happened where Toshiro had been standing and moments later he found the prodigy in front of him, sword now materialised in his hands and pointing right at him.

"I do believe you underestimated me." Said the Hollow, "Thanks to my _'Master' _having so much skill already, it enabled me to get just as powerful, maybe even more powerful than that."

Szayel let out a laugh and the pointed his hand towards him, his hand clenching.

"You are the strangest Arrancar I have ever made!" he laughed, "Never once have I known for an Arrancar to still be closer to a human! Never once have I known an Arrancar to be overtaken by an INNER hollow. You still have qualities that only a Vizard should possess!"

"Maybe your precious Aizen never meant for me to be a normal Arrancar." Said the Hollow, raising his sword in the air. "Maybe he wanted me to be like this, for Hitsugaya to have a n inner hollow whilst actually being an Arrancar. Perhaps he wanted to favour him more than the Espada he currently has."

This instantaneously flared Szayel's anger to the max. How dare a mere experiment talk to him like that! How dare he treat him as if he was trash! He was nothing, NOTHING!

"It seems I have sent your mind in turmoil."

"What are you talking about?" screeched Szayel, glaring at him and quickly trying to analyse the situation, but he was failing miserably.

"Can't you tell?" said the Hollow evilly, "I am muddling up your thoughts, you can't think straight and you'll be dead before you can un-muddle your brain."

* * *

><p>"ICHI-NII!" LET GO OF ME!" screamed Karin, struggling for all she was worth. Ichigo wasn't having it.<p>

"You seriously think I'm just going to let you run into danger?" shouted Ichigo, pinning Karin's arms behind her back.

"I DON'T CARE! HE'S HURTING HIM!" she screeched.

"He wouldn't want you getting yourself hurt!" snapped back Ichigo. Karin stiffened and sighed.

"Ichi-Nii, let go of me. I don't want to hurt you." Said Karin seriously. Ichigo sighed.  
>"Karin-." He then let go of her as flames flared around her, blocking access of any of her friends.<p>

"I'm sorry." She said, "I can't let them hurt him, he's done nothing to deserve this at all!"

She then began running, flames trailing after her so no one could follow. The place she was going was simple: the place where the explosion had happened. She could year everyone's angry and frantic yells echoing down the corridors, begging and pleading for her to come back out of harms way. She knew Ichigo was planning to follow her so she quickly turned round and skidded on her hell, a burst of flames coming off the skid mark and hiding the ceiling, causing it to collapse.

"Karin!"

She turned round and let out a low sigh as she closed her eyes.

"_Coming back to me are you?" _sneered her inner Hollow, gold eyes piercing the bleak darkness in her head.

"_I don't really have a choice, we both know I'll be more powerful if I get more help from you."_ Replied Karin quietly, forcing the darkness to disappear and then appeared inside her inner world. The world was to be expected, it was dark rocky ground and there was a volcano at the centre of it. Her hollow stood leaning against the volcano smirking.

_"Have you came to make me submit to you_?" said the hollow, brushing her white hair out of her face and staring at her with piercing gold eyes.

"_We can do this the easy or hard way."_ Said Karin quietly. The hollow smirked and then raised her hands.

_"I don't see why I shouldn't help you,"_ she said with no hesitation. This made Karin suspicious instantly, why would a hollow want to help her? _"After all, if you died I would die to."_

Karin nodded her head, it made a lot more sense than it did earlier.

_"I don't think you noticed, but there is another being here to. My guess was that it was your Zanpaku-to, but then I figured out you were fully human so I don't know who it is."_

Karin looked round and saw nothing.

"_What do you mean? No one else is here!" _replied Karin stubbornly, looking round.

"_You are not really focusing to much." _Replied the hollow coldly, _"She lives inside the volcano."_

Karin then stared at the towering volcano and heard a sharp cry emanate from it. She took a step back and braced herself as Lava spurted out along with the most beautiful creature Karin had ever seen. It soared upwards and the swooped down and then landed directly in front of the raven. Spreading out her wings slowly, she glowed faintly before taking a human form. Long, fiery red hair travelled down her back and rolled down to her hips, she wore a short ripped T-shirt that showed most of her stomach and shorts the showed most of her legs as well.

"_So I finally get to meet you, Karin-san." _She said after a momentary pause, staring at the baffled expression her master held. _"Surely you must have known there was something else behind your powers?"_

_"W-Well…" _started Karin, _"I knew there would be something that contained my powers… but I never expected you to be so… b-beautiful…"_

"_I'll take that as a compliment." _She replied happily, _"By the way, my name is Fenix."_

"_It goes with the Phoenix form you take." _Replied Karin, looking down.

"_Don't worry about it Karin, I'm not going to make you fight or anything." _Said Fenix, _"All I want to do is help that adorable snowball you love so much."_

Hold on, wait. Snowball?

_"It's Snowflake!" _said Karin angrily, causing Fenix to laugh.

"_Yes, I forgot, Snowflake then." _Laughed Fenix, her expression then turning serious. _"I need you to remember this and remember it well."_

Karin nodded and looked up at her, her back going straight as she listened to everything she was saying.

"_First of all, I should be a Zanpaku-to, but due to you being Human, that was never going to happen." _She said lightly, _"this is the manifested form of your powers, so if you focused hard enough, you could get me in a materialised form."_

"_Woah, hold on!" _said Karin, _"You would actually appear in the room?"_

"_Yes. But only in my bird form." _Said Fenix, "_mildly_ _putting it, the lowest form would be able to summon my phoenix form into the real world. The middle stage is actually YOU turning into the Phoenix."_

Karin widened her eyes in surprise.

"_And the final stage…" _Fenix put up three fingers, _"Is that you would turn into me. You would be pushed back into your inner world as I fought for you."_

Karin was amazed. She never knew she had so many powers and techniques locked away.

_"Remember this Karin-san. In each stage there is a different technique, different fighting abilities for each one. The third one you don't need to worry because it is me fighting for you. I shall teach you these techniques while in battle."_

"_Ok?" _said Karin bewilderedly, staring at the form that then bowed her head.

"_Of course, every fighting technique has a risk." _Murmured Fenix, _"the first stage will do no harm. The second stage is potentially risky because it will burn your flesh. If you were in soul form it would not harm you so much. However, if you combine your hollow with that ability, the effects will be minimal. The third technique… however…"_

"_What is the third technique?" _asked Karin, sucking in a bit of air as she partly already knew what the answer could be. Fenix looked up at her with sorrowful eyes.

"_You are only human." _She said, _"Being human means you could die after deactivating the technique, lose your powers or… the simplest of things, lose your memory of recent events."_

"_One of the bad things doesn't seem that bad." _Said Karin, _"But then again… losing my memory could be pretty bad too."_

"_But remember this." _Said Fenix, _Combine the hollow with the techniques, there is a 50/50 chance of none of them happening at all."_

* * *

><p>Toshiro opened his eyes and felt the soothing touch of his Zanpaku-to's hand on his shoulder. He let out a small groan as he tried to push himself back up but when his hands came into contact with the icy ground he instantly collapsed again and winced. Hyorinmaru then wouldn't allow him to move.<p>

"_Master, please don't move." _Said Hyorinmaru sternly, laying him down and kneeling next to him. Toshiro stared at him for a while and then noted that he hadn't seen Hyorinmaru since-

His hands flew up to his face and tried to cover his masked eye, but he felt nothing.

"_Master, here you will not have the hollow mask." _Said Hyorinmaru, _"Or at least, when that hollow is fighting for you, you won't have it."_

"_The hollow?" _said Toshiro, looking round the icy landscape, seeing that various pillars had been destroyed.

"_All the damage here was done by your hollow." _Said Hyorinmaru sadly, looking at the now black ice pillars, _"I tried to reverse it, but it's impossible."_

Hyorinmaru widened his eyes as Toshiro rolled onto his side and clutched at his head, his eyes screwed shut in pain.

"Master? MASTER?"

"_Make it go away… MAKE HIM GO AWAY!"_

* * *

><p>Szayel narrowly dodged the blade directed at his head but then blinked in slight pain as pain shot up his shoulder.<p>

"What the hell have you done to me?" hissed Szayel, wrenching the blade away and sonido'ing backwards.

"Didn't I already tell you?" said Toshiro's hollow, wiping the blood from his Zanpaku-to with his fingers, "I am muddling with your thoughts."

"Impossible!" screeched Szayel, feeling another strike go through his shoulder. He couldn't predict his movements at all. "I'll always figure it out! I'll figure out what god damn mind ability you have and I shall crush it!"

A heavy spiritual pressure then enveloped the room and knocked Szayel to his knees. Toshiro's Hollow shuddered but then managed to stay standing, his red eyes glaring menacingly to the man standing in the room.

"I think not Szayel." Said Aizen, brushing a bit of hair from his face, "If this is a part of Hitsugaya's abilities then we shall keep it for MY use."

The Hollow snarled.

"Yeah right, there is no way in hell you'll get a hold of my powers-!" he forcefully leapt back as Aizen appeared in front of him and clawed for his throat. The hollow stopped himself by booting a foot into the ground, cracking it and causing chips to go flying through the air. Aizen stared at the Snowflake's hollow form with fascination written all over his face. His brown eyes travelled down to his pale neck and noted that the collar was now cracked but was still suppressing around half of his power. The hollow looked up to see that Aizen had disappeared. He looked up and raised his hand quickly and blocked the kido ball the had formed in Aizen's hand and forced him to back away, but then widened his eyes as he felt it hit his back.

"Remember this, Hollow of Hitsugaya," said Aizen, "My main power is Hypnosis. Hitsugaya had already seen my swords Shikai so you, being in Hitsugaya's body, succumb to illusions. If you were of a separate body, you would not be under my spell."  
>The Hollow Toshiro fell to his knees and fell forwards limply and growled before he gave up and allowed Toshiro to come back. The Snowflake let out a gasp and allowed on the floor as the new place filled his sights.<p>

"_I'm sorry MASTER." _Snickered the Hollow,_ "I guess I kinda mucked up there."_

"_Shut up." _Snapped Toshiro angrily, "How dare you take over my body in the first place!"

Toshiro snapped out of his train of thought as he felt a foot being planted on his back. He grew rigid but the relaxed when it quickly retracted and arms lifted him up quickly and Shunpo'd out the way.

"I'm sorry Aizen, those illusions will no longer work with me." Said a voice. Aizen raised an eyebrow.

"And why is that, Yoruichi Shihoin?" said Aizen, clearly annoyed that she had somehow gotten through the illusion. Yoruichi smirked as she hoisted Toshiro over her shoulder.

"Well you see, Kisuke came up with this idea." She said after a moment of thought. "You said that if we saw your Shikai then we would fall under you 'spell' right?"

"Yes, I did." Said Aizen dryly, "So will you now explain how you can somehow ignore the illusions."

"It was a genius idea." Said Yoruichi, "Tell me Aizen, if the memory of when we saw your Shikai was erased from our minds how could your Zanpaku-to have a direct link to our brains if we no longer even had the memory?"

Aizen eyes widened in surprise momentarily before he went back to his usual composed state. Urahara Kisuke was a very smart man, he wasn't that surprised that he would come up with an idea like that. He was, after all, one of squad twelve's captains.

"Well, even if you managed to get through my abilities, do not forget I am not alone." Said Aizen.

"And what is that meant to mean exactly?" said Yoruichi, her head turning to the side as two people walked in.

"After all, Aizen isn't the master." Said a male.

"I am." Said a female voice, raising her head up and staring at her. She kept herself from being noticed much but she was, in fact, the leader of the whole idea. "My name is Amelia, and this is my brother Jugo."

Yoruichi kept her feet firm on the ground, hardly believing what she heard. Aizen wasn't in charge? If he wasn't in charge…

The two in front of her were even stronger than the man that nearly destroyed the soul society!

"Do me a favour." Said Amelia once more, staring at the white mop of hair was resting somewhere on Yoruichi's back. "Leave him here, and I'll spare you all."

Yoruichi's grin turned manacle.

"Fat chance." She said, reaching into her pocket for a sphere like object and smashing it off the ground, filling the room with smoke as she flash stepped and made a run for it.

"AFTER HER! DON'T LET HER GET AWAY WITH THE PRIZE!"

"Hai!" shouted Jugo, shunpo'ing after her. Amelia then turned towards Aizen and bowed.

"Aizen-sama." She said quietly, "Did I do a good job?"

Aizen nodded and stepped forwards, petting her on the head.

"You did well; you managed to fool Shihoin, now they'll become less focused on me." Said Aizen, "How are the units in the world of the living?"

"They are doing well, they have all located where Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryu, Yasotora Sado and Kurosaki Yuzu are." Said Amelia, 2due to the soul society trying to fix the shifting space I made, they forgot completely about the other subordinates in the world of the living."

"Good." Came Aizen's response, "You are dismissed."

* * *

><p>AN: Took me a while to write this but hopefully it's good ^^ Hope you enjoyed it.  
>Also, I'm thinking of doing story requests, so if there is a stroy you would like me to write just put it in your review or inbox me ^^<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

Snowflake

Chapter Thirteen

Yoruichi ran as fast as she could while carrying Hitsugaya's limp form, nibbling her lip as she Shunpo'd round a corner.

"_It can't be possible… can it?" _she questioned herself. She was still trying to figure out whether or not that girl was telling the truth. She said that she was the one in charge and Aizen didn't even disagree with her. She Shunpo'd to the right and then stopped as she came across everyone, minus Karin, staring at the flames and the blockage up ahead.

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Yoruichi, feeling everyone turn round and stare at her sorrowfully.

"Karin went to go save Hitsugaya-" Renji's jaw dropped as he saw said person draped over her shoulder. "Hold on, if Hitsugaya Taicho is here then-"

"Karin's now the one in danger damn it!" shouted Yoruichi, exasperated. She quickly pulled Toshiro over and then carried him bridal style, causing everyone to gasp."H-he's…

"Shiro-Chan i-is a-an Ar-Arrancar?"

"I don't believe it!"

"… It appears as if we were too late then…" Unohana's soft voice cut through everyone's panicked gasps and shocked murmurs and then placed a hand on the now crying Hinamori's shoulder. Yoruichi then walked over to Unohana and placed the Snowflake in her arms.

"Look after him, I'll go look for Karin." Said Yoruichi with a sigh, "She couldn't have gotten far-"

A flare of Reiatsu spread the area and everyone's attention snapped to it. It was a warm yet fearful Reiatsu but it could instantly be recognized.

"Karin!" shouted Ichigo, but was stopped by Yoruichi.

"Ichigo, I need you to do something for me as I go retrieve Karin." Said Yoruichi calmly. Ichigo shut up and listened. "I need you to go find Ichimaru Gin and bring him back here so he can be healed by Unohana Taicho."

Ichigo nodded and then looked at everyone with a nod before he Shunpo'd off.

"Now to find Karin." Muttered Yoruichi, "SHUNKO!"

* * *

><p>Jugo had failed to catch up with Yoruichi and grab Hitsugaya, but he had managed to bump into Karin and if he managed to capture her, his punishment wouldn't be too severe.<p>

Karin flared up flames to match his. He had the same Zanpaku-to as his sister, so you could call them twins. His flames fought against hers but everyone knew that fighting each other when you had the same element was very difficult. It was difficult to tell on whose fire was whose are until a bit flicked up and attacked there forms. Karin grimaced as she felt her uniform catch fire. Like she cared, it was that stupid uniform Aizen made, but she would be wearing this than being naked, so she quickly put it out with her hand.

"_Karin-san, feel the flames." _Said Fenix in her head. Karin sent out some more flames and the responded.

"_How exactly?"_

"_As you fight with him, look for your Reiatsu and my own. That is how you will be able to identify whose flames are whose!" _she replied, feeling proud of herself until she heard another voice next to her.

"_And you need to look for mine." _Hissed her inner hollow. _"Don't forget I'm helping you too idiot!"_

Karin ignored the hollow and then extended her senses to the flames. As she opened her eyes, she saw that her own flames had a blue coating and the other didn't. Only she could see this, so if the enemy didn't know which one was hers…

She quickly raised a palm and flared all her fire around the hall before aiming it at Jugo. Jugo had done the exact thing and Karin let out a surprised gasp and covered her face with her arms and then heard an explosion not too far away. She then opened her eyes to see the flash master standing right in front of her, flares of her Shunko blocking Jugo's fire with ease. She was surprised at first, but then grew furious.

"HEY! This is my fight Yoruichi-san!" shouted Karin. Yoruichi turned round and shot her a glare.

"Yeah right, if I hadn't come and helped you both of your arms would have become un-usable!" shouted Yoruichi, "And anyway, you don't need to go on this death trip, we have everyone in safe hands now, including Hitsugaya."

Karin's eyes lit up instantly until she saw Jugo move.

"Yoruichi-San, watch out!" shouted Karin. Yoruichi turned round and flared another bit of her Shunko and destroyed the huge fire ball heading her way. Karin closed her yes and then let both her hands up and stepped to the side of Yoruichi. She then began to whisper.

"Fenix." She whispered, "Flare."

Yoruichi turned her head and then moved as a huge Phoenix formed next to her, its fire wings spreading wide. Jugo took a step back and widened his eyes in amazement. Karin opened her eyes and the stretched both her hands up and clapped them.

"Envelop."

The Phoenix let out a sharp cry and then flew at a shocking speed, its sharp, burning beak piercing Jugo through the throat. Karin retracted it as she saw Jog collapse and turn into dust particles. She then felt Yoruichi turn towards her and grin.

"I see your new found powers are more powerful that Aizen would have expected." Said Yoruichi, and then she folded her arms. "it's best we get back to the other's, they've already probably exited the building."

* * *

><p>Ichigo quickly ran out of Las Noches with a barely conscious Gin on his back. He could feel blood seeping through his own Shihaksho from Ichimaru's stomach and was now taking ragged breaths.<p>

"_I don't have time, he needs treated immediately." _thought Ichigo, shampooing even faster until he reached the white sand of Huecho Mundo, where Isane quickly greeted him and took Gin off his back before running back to Unohana. Standing a few feet away was Renji, kneeling next to him was Momo who was watching Hitsugaya nervously. He had coming in and out of conscious for a while now but he hadn't woken up again for ten minutes now.

Unknown to everyone else, he was actually having an internal battle in the depths of unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Swords clashed against swords, the ring of metal stung the air. Toshiro skidded back and so did the hollow, who was by far pissed off with his master. Hyorinmaru stood at the sidelines, torn. He couldn't help his wielder because if he did, then it wouldn't have really been the Snowflake defeating the vile creature that lurked his inner world.<p>

Hyorinmaru looked towards his master again and sighed as he saw the hollow mask had reappeared and so had the hole in his chest, but this only happened because his inner hollow had hollow, materialized another sword and the shots a stream of black ice at Toshiro, who dodged in quick succession and as he twisted in the air, he sent shard after shard of ice in return. Hyorinmaru looked down and winced slightly. He was being drained of his spiritual pressure, he didn't mind Hitsugaya using it, it was just that the hollow was using it without even hesitating.

There was another clash of blades and as Hyorinmaru looked up, he saw Toshiro skid across the ground and go hurtling into an ice pillar that crumbled and collapsed under him.

"_Master…!" _started Hyorinmaru, but he felt the hand of the hollow rest on his shoulder.

"_Forget him, I'm your master now." _it snarled viciously. Hyorinmaru blinked and clutched at his head and his thoughts became muddled.

"_LEAVE HYORINMARU OUT OF THIS!" _shouted Toshiro, picking himself out of the flaked pieces of ice and then charging once more. _"BANKAI! DAIGUREN HYORINMARU!"_

The hollow leapt back and landed on his hands before he flicked himself back up again. Hyorinmaru blinked and then fell to his knees and then looked at his master fearfully. He looked like a complete different person.

Large icy wings spread across and shimmered faintly as red tints showed through it, his clawed feet making a snapping sound beneath him, but this wasn't the thing that worried Hyorinmaru. As he looked towards the snowflakes face, it was encased in black ice and the hollow eye from his mask lowed bright enough to show through it. Toshiro looked over at his Zanpaku-to and let out a sigh.

"_Pretty horrible looking, isn't it?"_

Hyorinmaru blinked before he started shouting.

"_MASTER BEHIND YOU!"_

Toshiro quickly turned and parried the Hollow's blade with ease before grabbing his throat and smashing him to the ground. He then raised his blade and pierced it right through the Hollows throat. Blood spurted across the ground and a howl that was meant to be pain turned into a weak whimper.

"_Y-you…"_

"_No more." _said Toshiro, bringing his sword to his face and shattering the ice surrounding it with his hilt. _"I know it won't change who I am, but at least I won't have to worry about Hollow scum taking over my body."_

The hollow glared at him before he let out a low growl before he closed his eyes and let the rest of his life drain away from him. Toshiro stood up and then approached Hyorinmaru, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"_Are you ok Hyorinmaru?" _asked Toshiro quietly, _"I know I used a lot of spirit energy from you and I know that hollow did as well."_

"_I-I'm fine master…" _responded Hyorinmaru quietly, smiling slightly. His master was back.

* * *

><p>Karin ran beside Yoruichi and then stopped at the dense spiritual pressure filling the area."Wha… What is this?" choked out Karin, falling onto one of her knees while Yoruichi remained completely still.<p>

"It's Aizen." she said quickly, helping the Raven back to her feet. Karin looked round carefully and then blinked in surprise that he stood so far away.

"I see you have been disobedient, Karin Kurosaki." said Aizen slowly, brown eyes glinting maliciously. Karin took a step back and was slightly thankful that Yoruichi had stood in front of her, protecting her from harms way.

"What do you want with her Aizen?" she snarled, hair whipping around from the amount of pressure she was exerting into it.

"Since it's going to happen no matter what you do, I might as well tell you and the princess." said Aizen, sneering, "That girl's soul is very valuable to me."

"And why is that?" said Yoruichi, an arm stretched out in front of Karin.

"You've seen her ability right?" said Aizen.

"Of course." she said, growing impatient, "What use is her strength if she will not fight for you?"

"Ah, you see…" said Aizen slowly, "I never wanted her for combat. There was a reason I turned her into a Vizard and Hitsugaya into an Arrancar."

"SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!" demanded Yoruichi.

"By combining those two souls together." said Aizen, smirking, "Those two souls would be enough to make the Oken instead of using one million souls with high spirit energy."Karin backed away more, terrified. What the hell was this Oken?

"_Master, do not become afraid, it's only a threat!" _said Fenix in her head.

"Oh, and of course, her spirit guardian, Fenix, will make up a quarter of the Oken."Fenix face palmed in Karin's head and sighed. Karin frowned as she calculated what this could mean. If Fenix was a quarter, the she too would be a quarter, Toshiro being a quarter and then… would it be his hollow or Zanpaku-to spirit that would be the other piece? She was dragged out of her thoughts as she felt a pair of arms wrap round her waist before she seen the whole area blur as a huge explosion happen.

Karin couldn't help letting out a yelp of surprise as she felt Yoruichi lose her balance and skid across the floor, arms wrapped round Karin as she took all the damage, allowing the skin on her arms and shoulders to scrape off and bleed. Karin then glared at Aizen and summoned her flames- but she wasn't fast enough. She felt a hand grab her faces and then saw a red light.

"Goodnight princess."

* * *

><p>"SHIRO, WAIT!" Momo shouted after her childhood friend but he continued to Sonido away. Renji attempted to keep up with him but he wasn't doing a good job.<p>

"COME BACK HITSUGAYA!" shouted Renji, stopping when his Taicho Shunpo'd past him and right in front of Toshiro.

"Captain Kuchiki, move it!" shouted the Snowflake, "Aizen is near her, I won't let him hurt her!"

He quickly drew his sword and clashed it against Byakuya's before he Sonido'd to the side and travelled at his highest speed that was even faster than Yoruichi. He formed a cero his hand and blasted through the wall, causing around half of the huge palace to Sonido'd forwards, oblivious to the fact that he was running right into a trap. He appeared in the middle of a room and found Yoruichi lying unconscious o the ground but there was no sight of Karin anyway.

"Ka-" Toshiro whipped round and then felt a hand slam into his face. It began to glow and then he quickly went limp.

"What a pity." said Aizen as he caught him in his free arm, "I thought your reflexes would have been better than that, but I guess that's what happens when someone as panic stricken as you walks across my path."

* * *

><p>In the world of the living, Orihime looked as Chad was tossed across the ground and Uryu narrowly dodged various swords from Shinigami. She looked up and summoned her shield forth and kept blocking the sword that was getting swiped at her relentlessly. Uryu looked at her quickly before jumping up and aiming his Ginrei Kojaku at the Shinigami.<p>

A loud ear-piercing scream could be heard as Orihime's barrier shattered and a blade nearly hit her head.

"Orihime, hang on, I-" Uryu stopped and the used his bow as a shield but then felt his other arm being grabbed and snapped brutally. One of the traitorous Shinigami glared at him.

"Great, now we do have to keep the healer alive to heal his arm damn it!" he hissed, taking his blade away from Orihime head and grabbing her by the hair, "Kill the tanned one, he has no purpose."

A Shinigami then approached Chad but then they both heard shouting.

"DON'T HURT HIM!"

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

The Shinigami turned to them and smirked.

"Very well then." he sneered, and then felt a Garganta open above them and then Aizen came out, holding Karin and Toshiro while Amelia came shortly behind him, her head bowed. She was still upset about the loss of her brother. She looked up and let out a slight smirk to see that all the humans had already been captured but then narrowed her eyes as she couldn't see one of them.

"Where is Yuzu Kurosaki?"

One of them stepped forwards and bowed.

"Lady Amelia, we have set three other Shinigami to bring her here-"

A split second later another one appeared and dropped a crying girl on the floor. She shook and the looked round to see all of her brother's friends bleeding, stuck or just terrified.

"Ah yes, everyone I need is here." said Aizen, looking at Yuzu and Uryu, "you may kill the other two."

* * *

><p>AN: New update... I don't think I'll update for a few days because I fell extremly ill *cough cough* thank you for reviewing anf I hope you enjoyed the chapter *cough cough*


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Screams of pain echoed the air as Ichigo and everyone else came through the Garganta and as the Strawberry looked down, a yellow ring could be seen round a shadowed figure, two throats being held in each hand. A light golden glow was coming off them and the spiritual pressure was astonishing. As his eyes focused the two figures could then be identified.

"Karin! Toshiro!" shouted Ichigo, Shunpo'ing down and then swinging his blade at Aizen only to get thrown back but an unexpected flick of energy. Everyone appeared by his side and then froze an abnormal amount of energy began to become compressed and Ichigo saw one of the forms go limp.

"Karin!"

Byakuya stepped forwards, blade drawn as he glared at Aizen.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." He said. Everyone watched in awe as the one million Sakura leaves surrounded Aizen and then attacked him simultaneously but the gasped in shocks as the all got sparked away and Byakuya was sent flying back from the impact, even further than what Ichigo had gone.

Toshiro closed his eyes and bit his tongue, refusing to cry out as he felt his spiritual pressure get stolen from him. Karin had long since passed out from the strain but she was still alive, just. Forcing his eyes open, he glared daggers at the man before him. Aizen remained calm and composed, apart from the malicious smirk that was crossing his face every so often. He loved the feeling of power and the power that they both had was perfect for the Oken. He hadn't expected the Kurosaki girl to stay conscious long, nor had he expected it from Hitsugaya, but there he was, still trying to get the Snowflake to submit to him. A few minutes passed and he could still hear everyone trying to break through the barrier.

"Bankai."

Toshiro's sight flickered slightly. Aizen remained his stance and continued to drain the Snowflake until his head snapped to the side.

"KamiShinioyari, Buto."

Aizen scowled before letting Karin hit the ground but kept a firm grip on Toshiro, smirking as he felt him go limp in his hand and then stepped to the side. The huge extending blade shot right past him but the curved in an attempt to hit him, but due to Gin being injured his aim was off. He withdrew it quickly and aimed again, this time aiming for the barrier that hadn't yet been broken. It cracked and shattered successfully and Aizen frowned as he lost connection to his incantation. Slowly he raised the limp body in the air before hurling him to the ground, finding no more need for him.

"Ah well." Said Aizen after a moment of thought, "I may have not drained them to their death, but I have enough of their power to open the spirit gate."

Ichigo let out a pent up yell before charging, no barrier in his way as he swung his blade at Aizen, failing miserably to hit him as his blade got grabbed and he too got hurled to the ground.

"I don't have time to play with you Kurosaki Ichigo."

With that he turned to Uryu, who was being pinned down by Amelia. He continued to try and continue to move his arm with the bow on it, trying to draw it back but Amelia simply wasn't allowing it.

"Stop trying." She hissed, "I've frozen your ability in place. It is futile to struggle."

Yuzu stood not to far away from him. She stood rigidly, complete not knowing what was going on but she could hear sharp sounds echoing through the air. Tears welled up in her eyes as her gaze focused on the only close person she could see, Karin. She lay crumpled on the ground and the brown haired twin couldn't even be sure if she was alive.

"Karin…Chan…" she whispered, waking slowly towards her until she widened her eyes at the strange feeling that overwhelmed her. She looked to her side to see a strange gate appearing out of no where.

"What… is that?" she said timidly, taking a step back and then feeling a sudden wind pass her. The gate glowed a faint gold and it had this weird silver veil covering it. She then looked to the side as she saw Uryu get lifted up by an unknown force, his arm sticking out at a strange angle. Unknown to her, his arm was actually being forced out, not by him doing it on his own accord.

Aizen took a step forawrd and let out one of his evil smiles as he made a slight signal with his hand. Uryu shot out a glares but the began hissing in pain as his arm was thrust through the first protection layer of the gate. His felsh began to burn and the instant the first barrier had been cracked by his bow, he was immeadiatly tossed to the side. Yuzu let out a whimper as she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw a seemingly floating object beside her. She then looked round and froze as she felt something brush past her ear and began whispering to her.

"You are the twin of Kurosaki Karin, therefore you are one of the keys to opening this gate."

She shook her head. Common sense told to run away, but where could she run? She would just get snatched up like she did earlier ago, if she tried to fight then she too would end up on the ground. She could do what the coice told her to do but then would would that result in?  
>Yuzu then blinked as she felt her hand being pried open and the small golden object being placed in it.<p>

"Y-Yuzu... Don't go... near the... g-gate.."

Yuzu slowly turned to her twin and burst into tears.

"K-Karin-chan..." she cried, about to sprint over but she felt the firm grip on her wrist tighten. She furiously turned round and with as much force as she could muster, turned round and booted Aizen, who simply grabbed it it and held it in place. Karin stumbled to her feet and glared, wobbling slightly as she attempted to find the energy she simply didn't have. A few moments passed before shouting could be heard.

"AIZEN! LEAVE HER ALONE DAMN IT!" yelled Karin, stopping everyone in their tracks.

"Well now..." said Aizen, smirking, "I never thought you would still have the energy to stand."

A split second later Toshiro was up as well, standing next to Karin with his eyes narrowed down. Aizen widened his eyes in surprise momentarily before narrowing them down. of course, he had drained Hitsugaya of most of his powers, it wasn't surprising that his hollow mask had near enough vanished. Karin put a hand on his shoulder and let out a low growl towards Aizen, indicating her hate for him through her eyes.  
>Toshiro stood straight, keeping a calm mask of compusure on his face like he normally did in the soul society. He quickly analized the situation.<p>

"Aizen, Kurosaki Yuzu isn't the last stage of this, is she?" questioned Toshiro slowly, causing Karin to look at him confusedly. Aizen began to clap his hands.

"Someone actually managed to figure it out, amazing." Aizen commented, "I still have to use you and Kurosaki Karin to open the gate."  
>Toshiro then raised his hand to his throat and glared coldly at Aizen.<p>

"So if I were to die, you wouldn't be able to enter the Soul King's dimension?" said Toshiro. Karin let out a gasp and stared at him, jaw dropped.

"Shiro, you can't possibly be thinking-"

"How are you to kill yourself when you have nothing to kill youself with?" said Aizen sharply, his eyes narrowing into slips, "You no longer have a Zanpaku-to and-."

Aizen stopped as a cero began to form in the Snowflake's hand.

"Let Karin's sister go and I won't fire this." said Toshiro. Aizen let out a low hiss as he pushed Yuzu away from himself causing Yuzu to fall forwards, hands meeting ground. Karin let out a relieved sigh and then turned her attention back to Toshiro.

"Shiro, you can take that thing back-." Karin widened her eyes as Toshiro suddenly pushed her out the way and stepped back quickly, attempting to moved his arm far away from himself but it was already too late, "SHIRO!"

A huge explosion happened, so huge that Aizen himself had to move too. AS smoke and dust clouded the area, Ichigo and Soi Fon shunpo'd into the scene, Ichigo picking up Yuzu while Soi Fon snatched Karin out of harm's way and appeared next to Ichigo's side. Everyone else who had came to help appeared by his side and scanned the area, but Hitsugaya could not be seen anywhere. The dust faded and Aizen could be seen once more, but it appeared as if he too was looking for Toshiro.

"SHIRO!"

Everyone whipped the sights towards Karin before lifting their eyes to where she was staring. She was staring at a wall seemingly, but as everyone looked down to the rubble on the ground, a familliar white tuft of hair could be seen through it. Soi Fon began to Shunpo but then Aizen stopped her before she could reach him.

"I am growing tired of your attempts to stop me." spat Aizen, smacking Soi FOn across the face but she somehow managed to remain standing."Leave now, and I shall spare everyone apart from Kurosaki Karin and Yuzu and of course, Hitsugaya Toshiro."

"We will never allow that." hissed Soi Fon, stading up straight, "Now this time you will die, and I'll make sure it's by my damn hand!"

* * *

><p>AN: *sigh* long time since I've updated but now since I feel a lot better I can write again... right? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though I actually thought it was terrible...  
>Anyway, next Chapter is Soi Fon vs Aizen (Who do you think is going to win? Soi Fon's anger mlded witht he skills she's developed all these years or Aizen, using his stupid illusions instead of fighting like a man? -.-)<br>Thank you for reviewing, subscribing and fav'ing, it really makes my day ^^


	15. Chapter 15

Snowflake  
>Chapter Fifteen<p>

"Now this time you will die, and I'll make sure it's by my damn hand!"

Aizen let a smirk crawl onto his features as he stared at the obviously now furious captain. Her anger had already been heightened to the max by seeing Yoruichi severely injured, and of course threatening her comrades and innocent souls that should have had nothing to do with this. She shunpo'd forwards, flailing her fist wildly at her foe. Aizen dodged with ease and couldn't help finding this quite amusing. He wanted to go to the Soul King's dimension, but who said he couldn't have a little bit of fun first?

Aizen shunpo'd forwards and drew his sword, hoping that the leader of the punishment force would be a good warm up. She, however, had already warmed up and was all set to kill Aizen. If Aizen took any severe hits, they Hogyoku wasn't going to heal him, it still didn't accept him as its master.

Ichigo was going to step forwards but was then stopped by Rukia.

"Ichigo, this isn't just a fight!" said Rukia, "She's most likely fighting out of fury… but then again, she may be fighting for Yoruichi-san!"

Ichigo stopped and began thinking to himself.

"If this is for damn honour, I can understand that… but this is Aizen! If it was a hollow then I would have left her… but Aizen… Aizen is…" Ichigo was cut off from his thoughts as shouting from Momo could be heard.

"CAPTAIN SOI FON!" she shouted. Ichigo snapped his head forwards as the small and rather loud Captain was froze, her sights dulling slightly.

"W-what… is this?" she said to herself, causing everyone to look at her in confusion. Gin cracked open a eye and stared at her, obviouslt knowing what was going on.

"It's an illusion."

Everyone turned their head to him and widened their eyes.

"Of course…" said Renji, "Only our memories had been modified to handle Aizen's Zanpaku-to! Captain Kuchiki, Soi Fon and Hitsugaya are probably still under that illusion process!"

"And what about Karin-san?" questioned Unohana.

"I… I never saw Aizen's Shikai…" said Karin quietly, "I know what it could do and I know what its powers are, but he never once made me see his Shikai… but why?"

"Its not that he didn't want to show you his Shikai, it's because he can't." said Gin suddenly. "Aizen only had the ability to show the people he showed before he lost his powers, therefore any new people he had come into contact with aren't affected."

He then pointed to himself and let out a sly smile.

"It also doesn't have an affect on me because Aizen thought I had seen his Shikai, but I never actually did."

Everyone was shooting him incredulous stares when mad chuckling erupted the air and small whimpers of pain could be heard.

"Too bad, you weren't even a warm-up!" laughed Aizen, tightening his grip around Soi Fon's throat. She tried to kick out but failed. What she could see was completely different from what everyone else could see.

"Lady Yoruichi… why…?" She thought to herself, staring at the twisted version of the person she admired, "Why are you-"

Her thoughts were stopped as another viscous squeeze was aimed at her throat. Evil golden eyes stared at her, evil laughing echoing out.

"You thought you were strong enough to protect the likes of me?" She laughed eerily, "You honestly thought you were worth something when I allowed you to work under me? Your nothing Soi Fon! Nothing at all!"

Soi Fon closed her eyes and winced at the hateful words. Was she really going to die this way with such a horrible version of Yoruichi killing her?

"KamiShinioyari, Buto Renjin!" shouted Gin, his blade travelling at a high speed while swerving at the same time, missing Soi Fon by inches and then digging itself into Aizen's side.

"Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Everyone turned in amazement as Byakuya stood up and glared at Aizen through the blood in his eyes. Then another figure stood up next to him.

"SHUNKO!"

Soi Fon felt the grip on her throat slacken slightly as she heard hisses of pain from the twisted Yoruichi before she turned into Aizen, his eyes filled with hatred at blood ran down his side. Soi Fon slowly and painfully turned her neck to the side to see a flash of purple past her. Yoruichi was screaming out a battle cry as she grabbed Aizen's arm and wrenched it away from Soi Fon and pierced his flesh with his hand.

"BYAKUYA! DO IT NOW!"

Byakuya shunpo'd forwards with his blade raised high.

"Senki, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"

He swung down but to his surprise Aizen still managed to move, so he was only successful in cutting of an arm. Aizen scowled and growled at him, feeling extreme pain coming off his shoulder with no arm and his gut which was pierced in two places.

Karin took this to her advantage and bolted forwards while everone drew their sword.

"Dance, Sode No Shirayuki."

"Bankai! Hihio, Zabimaru!"

"Snap Tobiume, Deflect!"

Isane stayed put next to Unohana, prepared to heal any of her comrades if needed. Both of them looked into the sky as Ukitake and Kyouraku came out, both seemingly exhausted.

"It took us a while to hold off the remaining Arrancar and Espada, but we did it." Said Ukitake, his arm draped round Kyouraku's shoulder.

"Wasn't easy, mind you." Said Kyouraku, tilting his hat, "The instant wee get this over with a long drink of Sake is definitely required."

"Kyouraku Taicho, I believe you should think about that after the battle, watch." Said Unohana gently, turning towards everyone who had charged and then glancing towards a running Karin. "It looks like Karin-san it going to help Hitsugaya Taicho."

Everyone nodded in agreement as they turned back to Aizen, who had many Shinigami attacking him now. Karin stopped running when she appeared next to the rubble, picking and tearing large chunks off her Snowflake.

"Shiro, you can't be dead, you can't be…" whispered Karin, allowing tears to fall freely from her eyes. "You can't go… I need you…"  
>She got most of the rubble away and the starting pulling Toshiro's body away from it. Her eyes locked onto his face but there was no reaction at all. The hollow mask was completely gone and his face was covered in dust, dirt and blood. Lots and lots of blood.<p>

Karin closed her eyes and bit her lip, refusing to let the sight make he sick. She opened them again and then instantly went to the medical training Goat Chin had taught her ever since she was little. She reached for his pulse and placed two fingers on top of it, letting out a large sigh of relief as she could still feel a weak pulse. She struggled with his weight at first but then began running towards Unohana and Isane, who were already running to her.

Aizen snapped his eyes open and then smirked. So many blades had pierced his being now and he was surprised he wasn't dead yet.  
>"Well, If I am to die… then those two… shall die… TOO!" he said hoarsely, aiming a hand at the running Karin and aimed with perfect accuracy.<br>"Hado 90, Kurothitsugi."

Karin kept running but the froze in her tracks as dense spiritual pressure surrounded her. He looked at the ground and saw black coming up and appearing around her and Toshiro like a jigsaw puzzle.

"QUICKLY! KILL HIM BEFORE IT FORMS FULLY!" shouted Yoruichi. Byakuya nodded grimly and swung his blade down fully, cleaving Aizen's head off with one final blow.

Karin collapsed, deliberately backwards so she wouldn't crush her snowflake and started screaming. It felt like her flesh was being torn apart.

"GETSUGA TENSHO!" a black and red light broke through the barrier and it shattered into multiple pieces, leaving a collapsed Karin on the ground with Toshiro wrapped tightly in her arms. "Karin!"

Yuzu looked up from where she sat on her knees, tears falling freely from her eyes.

"K-Karin…Ch-Chan…" she whispered, seeing her sister lie on the ground with the invisible thing she was hugging. "It must be a spirit… she's hugging someone… but who?"

Yuzu then turned towards the flickering gate. Now that the person who had summoned it was gone, it couldn't really keep up its existence anymore. With once last flicker it vanished and Yuzu let out a sigh of relief. She then looked round in an attempt to see anyone she knew. The only person she could see was Karin! But then again… maybe her brother was here? In soul form?

Yuzu flinched as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder and then felt something wrap round her own. It was a warm presence, much nicer than the person who was touching her before. She allowed this person to help her back to her feet and she bowed slightly.

"A-Arigato Mister… or m-ma'am…" she whispered, trembling slightly. Ukitake let out a low smile and ruffled her hair, not feeling the need to say anything since she couldn't see him anyway. He turned towards Unohana and Isane, who were now by the sides of Karin and Toshiro. Orihime was back on her feet and was now healing Uryu, murmuring pointless apologies even though they weren't needed.

Karin lay on the ground, panting slightly as she saw Unohana appear over her, resting a soothing hand on her forehead as she put healing energy into her other hand and began scanning it over the cuts and gashes covering her skin. Isane was next to Toshiro, forced to use both her hands on his chest to try and bring back some of his pulse rate. She wasn't doing to bad, because he was near enough stable now but it still appeared as if he was in a lot of pain.

"Hinamori-San." Unohana called out, Momo appearing next to her within seconds. "Do you think you could help Isane with the healing of Captain Hitsugaya?"

Momo nodded and shunpo'd next to Isane and began healing as well, although her skills were not as great as the squad four members, she was still good with minor injuries.

"To…shiro…" Unohana looked down to see Karin staring up, "Is Toshiro ok?"

"Yes, I believe he will be fine." Said Unohana brightly." Rest now, Karin."

Karin nodded and turned her head to the side, smiling. Toshiro was ok, he had lost his Arrancar abilities but who cared? It was still him.

"I'm glad your ok… Toshiro."

* * *

><p>AN: I know it's not up to my normal standards, but I really can't get much motivation to write this even though I know many peole are waiting to read this. I... I kind of started writing an IchiHitsu fic... (IchiHitsu is one of my fav Yaoi pairings, which I don't normally read but now I find them really facinating...) well, You'll know if I published it anyway .  
>Anyway, about this story... this chapter was pretty abrupt but I only hold out stories as long as I don't get bored...<br>Actually, I was going to update on monday, but if any of you are from Scotland or even the UK, you should know that th wind was really bad and all the internet connections were knocked down and the phone lines too! Oh well.  
>Hope you enjoyed the chapter, it only had one or two more to go before completion.<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

Two weeks had passed, everyone fully recovered but Gin, who had been injured the most. Toshiro hadn't woken up once, Ichigo remained paranoid, positive that Aizen couldn't have died that easily and that was an illusion like his other deaths. Karin blocked him out, always remaining in her bedroom where the Snowflake was sleeping fitfully.

Her head was bowed and her head was resting on his chest. She refused to go to her school and was receiving countless complaints from her school, but Isshin let her stay where she was, understanding what she was going through… sort of. He knocked on her door and told her that Yuzu had prepared the dinner, but she merely nodded, her mind elsewhere.

Somewhere deep down, she knew that Toshiro didn't want to wake up in case he was left all alone, after all, he was knocked unconscious before anyone else and if he woke up now there was a high chance that everyone could have died. She looked at him and scowled.

"Snowflake, wake up damn it!" she growled, frustrated. There was no response, as she expected, but it still made her upset. She looked out the window and smiled slightly, noticing the sudden change of weather. Light snowflakes were falling down and lightly catching off branches, making the sparkle as the stuck to the morning frost. She stared up at the completely white sky and then looked at Toshiro, looking down sadly.

"Happy birthday… Toshiro…"

She continued her gaze out of the window and then opened it up, stretching her hand out and catching one of the snowflakes in her palms. It glittered slightly before melting, cold water instantly warming up before being absorbed into her skin. It felt slightly soothing, but then it just tingled away into nothingness.

"To think I thought… Karin Kurosaki… that you never got emotional over a boy?" Karin froze and then looked round and widened her eyes in surprise lunging at the now sitting Snowflake and hugging him to death.

"H-How long have you been awake?" demanded Karin, causing Toshiro to smirk and ruffled her Raven hair.

"Long enough for me to know that you were worrying about me." He said slyly, "so what does that mean?"

"I-I…" Karin's face turned an extreme red as she turned away from him. He knew he was actually that annoying? Sure, when they were in Huecho Mundo he acted all serious and tense, here he's just sly and damn cheeky!

"It mean nothing you idi-" she turned round quickly to continue her rant to find soft lips against her own. They were delicate, slowly moving against hers anxiously. She was already as red as a strawberry, but now she had turned beetroot. Her brain shutting down on her as she didn't know how to respond. She had never really experienced something like this, considering she was quite a tomboyish girl and of course, no one really liked her that much apart from her small group of friends, most of them were just plain scared of her! So why… why him?

"Gonna say something Karin?" he whispered, brushing her hair away from her face to look at her eyes. She stared back and put a mischievous grin on her face.

"Dinner's ready birthday boy." She teased, feeling him frown. She bolted down the stairs, laughing her head of as she ran into the kitchen, meeting a surprised Ichigo, Isshin and Yuzu who were all staring at her strangely. Realization plastered their expressions as Toshiro stumbled after her, only just noticing that he had been placed into a gigai when Yuzu was able to see him.

"I see you decided to wake up Toshiro." Said Ichigo, staring him up and down.

"It couldn't be helped." Responded Hitsugaya sharply, "Anyway, where is everyone?"

"Most people have returned to the soul society and have been filing in reports on the recent incidents that had occurred..." replied Ichigo, staring at him before returning to his newspaper, "And they've been covering up the mess Aizen made in the world of the living too."

"Ah, I see." Said Toshiro, blinking and then turning to Karin as if nothing had happened. "And what about you?"

"Been refusing to go back to school." She said cheerily, earning a scowl from the Snowflake. "What? I was worried about you damn it!"

"like I care." Said Toshiro, "You need education or you're getting nowhere in life."

"Who are you, my father?" scoffed Karin, narrowly avoiding a death hug from Isshin himself, "I shouldn't have worried about you at all!"

"And you worried… because…?" said Toshiro, looking at her and smirking. She immediately went red again.

"Don't go there!" she muttered, sitting down, "Just eat already!"

* * *

><p>It was now around 3:00pm and Karin and Toshiro were outside, lying in the thick snow. Karing was shivering slightly while Toshiro stayed completely still, enjoying the coldness. Snow was still falling and Toshiro looked down as a piece of it landed on his nose and refused to melt.<p>

"Why does it do that Shiro?" asked Karin suddenly. Toshiro looked at her while raising a questioning eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean... You know, why doesn't the snow melt when it touches you?" asked Karin again. Toshiro thought about it for a moment before sighing, closing his eyes.

"Probably just my Reiatsu or my Zanpaku-to." said Toshiro after a thought, opening his eyes and turning his head towards her, "Why?"

"It's just..." Karin hesitated for a second, "I thought maybe you might have lost your powers since you no longer are an Arrancar..."

"No, I still have my powers, but it will take time for them to regain their former power." said Toshiro, narrowing his eyes before widening them, suddenly sitting up. "What about your powers Karin?"

... Silence. The silence lasted for around three minutes before Karin let out a sneeze.

"I lost my powers." she said, looking at him, "But it doesn't really matter, I shouldn't be put in such danger again, should I?"

"No, of course not." he said automatically, his mind thinking differently, _"But... I don't think Aizen is dead..."_

Karin got to he feet and let out one of her smiles. she grabbed his hands, her hands slightly icy feeling as she helped him back to his feet.

"C'mon Toshiro, it's your birthdy right? the town should still be open so I need to get you a present."

"But Karin-!" She pressed a finger to his lips and smirked.

"Tough luck Shiro, you're getting a present whether you want one or not!"

* * *

><p>Nightfall came quickly and Toshiro sat on the roof while Karin wa sleeping peacefully in her room. He examined his book and noted it was a classic and that it was probably really expensive due to the leather bindings and complicated designs on the front. he sighed and rested his knees under his chin, thinking.<p>

_"I really do care for her... I really do... But I don't want her to go through all of that again..." _He thought _"I will become stronger, for her at the very least."  
><em>

* * *

><p>Karin made sure she was quiet and sat up, reaching for the her side of the cupboard and opening it up, she found a blade. Fiery red hilt, straigt blade that shone bright like silver and a red ribbon trailing from it.<p>

"Fenix, let me in." she said, quietly, closing her eyes as she got sucked into her inner world and was greeted warmly by her Fenix, whoi sat on top of the volcano in her human form.

_"It's been a while Karin, you never even came to visit me in the morning like you normally do." _commented Fenix, _"Been spending a lot of time with the Snowball?"_

_"It's SNOWFLAKE!" _Said Karin stubbornly, but she nodded still, _"Yeah, he woke up today and it was his birthday so I had to spend some time with him, you understand that right?"_

_"Sounds like someones in love!" _giggled Fenix, earning a glare from her master, _"Anyway, I wanted to ask you something."_

_"And what would that be?"_

_"Why did you tell him that you lost your powers when your powers have actually increased?"_

_"Because..." _said Karin, _"Because I don't want him to worry about me. I want to train by myself and then when I think I'm strong enough, I'll tell him then."_

_"But then he'll end up staying to make sure you are safe!"_

Karin let out a smrk as she twirled a bit of hair in her fingers. She tapped her foot and looked around before grasping the hilt of her Zanpaku-to and placing it in front of her.

_"That's the idea, I don't want him to leave." _said Karin, closing her eyes to leave when Fenix started laughing.

_"When you go back, try and get another kiss from him!" _she teased, jumping into her volcano before Karin could turn round and begin shouting. The Raven scowled before brushing it off, leaving her inner world.

* * *

><p>As she came back to the physucak world, she heard shuffling outisde her door and panicked, hiding her sword once more and running over to her bed, tripping in the process. Toshiro entered the room and blinked as he heard a dull 'THUD' and found the girl he vowed to protect lying on the floor, clutching at her head.<p>

"Ow..." she said thickly, oushing herself up and then looking at the side to see Toshiro standing over her, concerned. "Oh, hey Toshiro..."

"What were you doing to make you end up on the floor?" asked Toshiro, looking round for whatever made her get up. Karin looked round quickly too, aything would do.

"I was looking for that!" she said, pointing at a ball, "My soccer ball! I want to play tommorow-!"

"Tell me the real reason." said Toshiro bluntly. Karin widened her eyes in surprise, knowing that she was a terrible lair but she couldn't tell him the truth after saying she lost her powers earlier!

"I... nothing..." she said quietly, ruffling his hair, "I don't know what I was doing."

Toshiro let it drop but he still knew she was lying. he followed her until she got onto her bed and tucked her in silently, his eyes looking tired.

"Karin, rest for now, I'll be back shortly." he said, hearing his soul pager, that he had recieved back off Isshin, bein beeping. He was about to leave when Karin grabbed his wrist.

"Don't go! Your not fully recovered!"

"It's the duty of a Captain, I'm sorry Karin." he replied softly, patting her head, "I'll be back shortly."

He ate his soul candy and shunpo'd away leaving a rather annoyed Raven still sitting on bed, her arms folded crossly.

* * *

><p>He appeared in the middle of a park, scanning the area before, draing his sword to counter a hollow, who had tried to claw him from behind. He turned round and looked, scowling.<p>

He didn't know how long it had been since he had been forced to fight a hollow, but he knew it was shocking that a hollow would dare come here after what happened previously. Aizen left over spiritual pressure should have been enough to scare anyone away, even hollows. So why...?  
>Toshiro was dragged out of his thoughts as he dodged another swipe and raised his blade into the air, releasing his spiritual pressure. The alerady snoy ground became totally frozen, making it like an ice rink- but everyone knows this, <em>don't go on ice without skating boots on.<em>

Toshiro glared at the hollow as it slipped all over the place, howling in its attempt to stand but then failed as he slid and fell back again. The Snowflake went to finish the killing blow when he felt a presence behind him. he whipped round but he lost his footing and slipped himself, whacking his head off the frozen concrete.

"How idiotic Hitsugaya."

Toshiro looked up and growled. The person before him wore a hood and supressered his spirit energy, making it impossible for him to know who it was, the only thing he had to know was that this person was his enenmy, for now. So called person raised a blade in the air and Toshiro forced himself to roll over, widening his eyes as a blade dug itself into the ground, just beside his head.

"It appears I missed."

Toshiro flipped round and attempted to stand, grabbing his Zanpaku-to at the same time, but he was too slow and got pushed back onto the ground.

_"Damn it! Ever since Aizen stole my spirit energy, my skills have grown shabby and my speed has dipped!" _Hitsugaya cursed, feeling a foot place itself on the back of his neck. He felt a blade brush against his cheek and slice it slowly, drawing blood instantly that reddened the ice underneath his face. He shot a glare as the blade continued to come downswards, cutting into his flesh and running down to his throat, were it rested at the centre.

"Should I just kill you? Or should I have some fun?" commented the attack, kneeling down and grabbing a tuft of white hair, "Or should I make it fast and painless? What to do, what to do..."

Toshiro let out a low hiss. He was being toyed with and he knew it.

"Flare, Fenix."

Toshiro snapped his head up as an intense heat flickered past him, and the weight on on his neck had vanished. The hollow that had been lying on the ground and long since disintegrated. He looked up and blinked, surprised.

In front of him stood Karin, but it wasn't Karin. Sure, it was her, in a pair of jeans and T-shirt, the black hair... but her face was covered with a Hollow mask. She quickly withdrew it and stared at the attacker with cold onyx eyes.

"I don't think it very fair that you attack someone who isn't even healed yet... Aizen."

* * *

><p>~THE END~<p>

A/N: I deliberately left it there in case I wanted to do a sequel in a few weeks, but then again I might not be in the mood. If I do make a sequel, the things will be in it

- More explanation on Karin's powers and why she has a sword

- Aizen has more power than ever

- Toshiro gains some more abilities to Protect Karin

- Lots more fighting scenes and knowing me, more torture

- Some other pairings tied in

- A whole lotta random

And a lot more, I just can't think of it right now. Review please XDD


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